The Game We Play
by Takada Saiko
Summary: Rumplestiltskin has always played dangerous games, but the stakes are even higher with Henry's safety as the prize, and things are rarely what they seem in Wonderland. [Part of my series. Takes place after All Falls Down. Cannon Divergence/AU post Going Home.]
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So I have always been a fan of Alice in Wonderland of various sorts. The Disney version is one of my favorites, and I followed an online web comic for years called When Curiosity Met Insanity. I simply love Wonderland, so when OUAT in Wonderland came out on ABC, I gave it a shot. I hadn't seen OUAT yet, and while I liked it, I found I didn't have time to keep up with it well, so it dropped out of my line up. Well, the other day Robin4 makes a comment about Cora making an appearance on the last episode and so what do I do? I go watch that episode. What happens next? I spent this whole last weekend catching up on OUAT in Wonderland. Heaven help me, plot bunnies attacked as soon as I saw the Jabberwocky and this is what is coming of it. This follows not long after _All Falls Down_, so it is AU (cannon divergence) post Coming Home out of OUAT, and may turn out to be AU of Wonderland too. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter One. **

Rumplestiltskin hadn't dreamt of his son falling through the portal in some time now. He had no reason to with Baelfire there as a constant reminder that he had, against the odds, been given a second chance to make things right. There had been many years when that was all he dreamt of. Small bits changed, but the dream stayed mostly the same night after night with Bae leading him out to that little clearing and he knew what was coming. The ground opened up beneath them and he could feel himself slipping. He grabbed onto Bae's hand, holding as tight as he could. This time. This was the time he'd hold on, no matter what. He wouldn't let go of his boy. This was it.

Bae's voice filled his ears above the roar of the open portal, and frighten eyes the same colour as his own looked up at him, begging and pleading and accusing. He was breaking the deal he'd made with the only person in all the worlds that had ever loved him. His son. His Baelfire. If he could shatter the bones in his ankle to be with a baby boy he hadn't even met yet, certainly he could hang on this time.

And then his hand slipped and Bae fell down and down and down into an endless hole with his cries echoing in Rumplestiltskin's ears, his own promise to that baby boy ripping at what was left of his cursed soul.

_I'll never leave you Bae._

But he was gone, and even in his dream he clawed at the dirt where the hole had been and screamed his name, but he'd slipped away again.

"He wouldn't have slipped if you hadn't let go."

Rumple froze, knowing the voice anywhere and his eyes darted around what had turned to inky blackness. It was just a dream. Just a nightmare. It wasn't real. He stood, determined to find a way out and back to wakefulness when he found himself facing the owner of the voice. "Hello, laddie," his father greeted with a smile, but was gone like a wisp of smoke, there just long enough to send his son's heart racing wildly.

He stood there for what felt like ages, gasping and gulping in his breath and trying desperately to separate dream from reality. A shiver worked its way up his spine and he felt hands on either shoulder and the fears' origin became clear as she whispered in his ear, breath hot against his face. "I like a good challenge, Rumplestiltskin. And you, for all your fear, are a good challenge."

A smile perked his lips as power began to gather to his fingertips. "You always were a bit more confident than you should have been, dearie," he remarked and spun, the attack flying.

She wasn't there, but his eyes widened as the magic slammed into someone far more precious. Her laughter echoed in his ear. "You hide it well, Dark One, but I _always_ know what you're afraid of."

He shot straight up in the bed, Bae's name on his lips and one hand reaching out, finding nothing but air in front of him. It took a moment for his mind to register that he was in his old bed - one rarely used when he lived here before - and Belle was startled awake next to him, sitting up and touching his shoulder. "Rumple?"

Dark eyes turned toward her and his breathing eased only a bit. "Just a dream," he managed after a moment.

Her hand didn't leave his arm and he finally turned to look at her again in the dim light. They were in the Dark Castle, having arrived the evening before with Bae, Emma, and Henry. The world was not ending, there was no war on, and no curse looming. Things were as peaceful as they got and _she_ was certainly not whispering in his ear dredging up fears better left behind the best built walls.

"Will you tell me about it?" Belle asked carefully. As much as he was learning to trust, she had to remind herself not to push him.

When he did finally speak, his words were almost light, but it was a tone Belle knew well. "Just a nightmare about a creature I ran across once. Nasty woman that fed on fear."

"That sounds terrible."

Rumple shrugged, finally leaning back against the pillows and his dark eyes met clear blue. A smile tugged at his thin lips. "Certainly not a place I'd set our sights on for a getaway."

Belle couldn't help but echo his smile. "It was just a dream though? Not a… a vision of some kind?"

"I highly doubt it. The woman from my dream was well and truly taken care of when I left her little, annoying world. I made sure of that."

Belle leaned against him. "Did you kill her?"

The question wasn't accusatory, just curious and Rumple wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "No. I don't think she could be killed, but she's trapped for all of eternity. It's close enough. Nothing to fear there," he promised and kissed the top of her head. "Now, shall we see if the others are up?"

"I didn't realize it was morning already. You keep it so dark in here," Belle mused, looking to the heavy drapes that only let in a small sliver of light from the rising sun.

"Something that is sure to change with you back in the castle," Rumplestiltskin said with a grin. They'd yet to spend a night together in the Dark Castle since returning from Storybrooke the first time until this one. Belle had never actually seen his bedchamber and had teased him about having one at all if he hadn't slept before. He'd only smirked and reminded her that he hadn't slept _often_.

The bed was huge and oh-so-comfy, making it difficult to convince themselves that they really should get up. Belle hadn't felt so relaxed, so at home, in a long while. They'd been so caught up in this disaster and that threat recently that they'd barely had time to breathe. It seemed to be weighing on everyone in some form or fashion at Snow's palace, but it had actually come to magical blows between Rumple and Regina the day before they decided some space was needed. It wasn't that anyone was particularly worried about the two sorcerers doing any lasting damage to each other, but the structural integrity of the castle was something else entirely. The fact that it followed just on the heels of a yelling match with Snow only strengthened Belle's resolve to get her love away from it. She wanted to go home. They needed some time away. She hadn't needed to argue the idea too much.

It had helped that Bae had jumped on board so quickly, saying that Henry's birthday coming up in a week's time was the perfect excuse to take him to the Dark Castle, an adventure he'd been begging for for months.

When they did finally untangle themselves from the warm sheets and made their way down into the Great Hall, Henry was already down there, looking intently at the many pieces collected over the centuries. He perked as the doors opened and a wide grin spread across his face. "Morning!" he greeted.

"Find anything interesting yet?" Rumple asked as he moved to the table, taking a seat in his usual chair and watching his grandson continue to beam at all the new possibilities.

"Well, Dad told me not to go poking around too much without talking to you first and everyone just kind of crashed out once we got here last night. I think he thinks I'll get sucked into some magical box or something. Or fall through a portal. Or... I don't remember the other thing. Pretty sure he was just making stuff up by the end of it."

"There's a good chance not. I have quite a collection here."

Henry took a seat across the table from Belle on his grandfather's other side. There had rarely been more than one chair at the table before - sometimes two on the rare occasions that the Dark One and his princess-maid took their meals together - but certainly not five settings. He'd offered to build Bae a castle as a child, and now he welcomed him in the one he'd hid himself away in after their separation. It was no accident that he'd chosen one of the most secluded mountains to place the Dark Castle on, the passages often cut off by storms of snow and ice. It hadn't seen a soul that wasn't trying to barter some sort of deal out of him for many years - and sometimes no souls at all being that Rumplestiltskin had been quite certain his was used up at that point of time - until Belle's arrival. Now, though, his grandson sat at his table and his son slept in one of the many rooms. How times had changed.

"How are you liking it so far, Henry?" Belle asked, pulling Rumple out of his thoughts.

"It's great! Not _quite_ as enchanted as I'd pictured, but hey, still cool. I didn't really know what to do about breakfast though… I couldn't find the kitchen."

Rumplestiltskin flicked his wrist and breakfast appeared in front of him in a _poof_ of magical smoke. He watched the young teen's eyes grow wide and the grin that hadn't quite left broadened again. "That's awesome!"

"Not quite as enchanted as he'd pictured," Rumple groused, sounding almost offended as his own and Belle's breakfasts popped into place and she shot him a look.

"Are you saying that every time you made me breakfast before I was up you just poofed it into existence?"

"Of course not," Rumplestiltskin answered automatically. "Not _every_ time."

* * *

"Do you know how pathetic you sound?"

Baelfire didn't care. The bed was warm and more comfortable than any he'd ever known and nothing Emma could do or say would make him want to get up. He tried to convey that, but the grumbles were muffled by the pillow and he only received a slap to the shoulder for his efforts.

"Henry'll be up already. I really don't want to find him sometime next week at the bottom of one of your dad's weird multi-dimensional-thingies."

This did cause one brown eye to slip open and Bae stared at her from around the lumps in the pillow. "Multi-dimensional-thingy?" he echoed and she hit him again.

"You know what I mean!"

"I really don't," he laughed, finally shifting so that he could prop himself up on one elbow and look at her as she stood over him. "Pop'll be up. He'll watch Henry."

"Yeah, because that's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Just… for once, Emma, relax," Bae pleaded and before the blonde knew it he was pulling her back down into the bed. It just didn't seem to end and she found herself laughing as she rolled over him, taking hold of his sleeping shirt and bringing him with her. Finally, the dungeon of fluff did end and they fell to the floor, Bae hitting first and Emma on top of him, both laughing. "See? No death, no destruction, but still fun," he grinned up at her.

"And you're up. Let's eat."

Bae groaned as she started to hop off, but he caught her. "Hey, just a second." He reached back, groping blindly behind him until his fingers latched onto a satchel he'd brought with him. He pulled it closer and looked up, finding hazel eyes staring back at him and his breath caught. He'd always loved her, he knew, even when he'd told himself he shouldn't, that he had to let her go to do what she was meant to. Now, over a decade later, she was there with him - back in the Enchanted Forest of all placed - and he was more certain than ever that he _couldn't_ live without her. Possibly not for another moment. _Don't let it matter_, his papa had said when they'd spoken about his fears. If she loved him even half as much as he loved her, there was nothing to worry about.

"Neal, I'm hungry and -"

"Henry's fine. I have something I wanted to talk to you about before we go down." He pulled himself up so that he was sitting, leaned back against the bed. Emma leaned with him, the mirth seeming to wear off as she realized that she'd been waylaid again on her quest for food. "I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to plan anything, because I knew as soon as I did something would get in the way… like it has been every other time I think I've got it covered." He took a deep breath, steeling himself and digging deep for the courage he needed. "But I don't have it covered. I'm never going to have it all covered, so I decided that I'd just know when the time was right." He gave a short laugh, pulling out a small box from the bag. "This is definitely not the way that I thought I'd be asking this, but I just can't wait. You and me… we've waited too long."

Emma froze, eyes fixated on the box as he spoke. She took it numbly as he all but pushed it into her hands.

"I should have asked you years ago, Emma. I shouldn't have ever let you go. I was so… stupid, but I'm not going to make that mistake again, I swear. Never again."

Her fingers worked the top open and the early morning light caught the diamond.

"I just want to spend forever with you," he finished his awkward, bumbling speech and their eyes met. "I love you, Emma."

And then there was silence. Painful, long, terrible silence. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath until the ache began and he was forced to let it out even before she spoke. It seemed like an eternity and she shook her head very slowly. "Neal... I just… _can't_."

"Why not?" He hadn't meant for his voice to sound so small, so wounded.

She snapped the lid closed and handed it back to him, standing. "I think I need a walk. Save some breakfast for me."

Bae watched as the woman he loved walked out the door, leaving him sitting on the floor with the ring he'd bought for her in his hands. She didn't want him. She didn't love him. The world came crashing down around him and he was sure he had never known pain quite like it before.

* * *

Magic did a great many things in the Dark Castle. It took care of the basic cleaning - there was no way that one person would be able to clean all of the rooms alone, no matter if she'd been given the task to do so by the castle's master or not - cooking, and maintenance. Rumplestiltskin always had access to who was coming and going - that particular spell having been cast just after the whole Robin Hood incident - and could quickly find the location of any visitors that he might have had.

Rumple had begun to wonder if his son and Emma would be joining them for breakfast at all as minutes turned to hours. Belle was telling Henry a story about an experiment gone wrong from their time before the Dark Curse when a small tug at his magic alerted him that someone had left through one of the doors and into the gardens. He closed his eyes, searching, and found Emma Swan alone out there. His focus shifted to find Bae hadn't left the room at all.

"You made him clean it?" Henry asked with a grin as Belle wrapped up the story.

She shrugged. "His mess. I might have helped a little, but only because that was _technically_ my job."

"Oh you were far past that by that point, sweetheart," Rumple murmured as he stood. "Why don't you show Henry around a bit?"

"Where are you going?" she called after him, but he was halfway out the door by the time the words chased after him.

Rumple was standing at his son's door almost instantly. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed the particular magic that had been woven into every stone of the Dark Castle. There was no need to teleport from room to room or even wing to wing. One might open a door in the westernmost part of the castle and land themselves in the east. The corridors shifted as needed, obeying better for those that possessed magic rather than those that didn't, but he'd found a way to manipulate the spell to obey Belle's wishes, so certainly he could do the same for Bae. Henry had likely manipulated the halls and never noticed he was doing so. Not as enchanted as he pictured indeed, Rumple grumbled mentally once more as he wrapped his knuckles against the thick, wood door.

Silence was the only response. Well, Emma had indicated that Bae's distaste for mornings hadn't been dampened by the centuries. Rumple shook his head, a teasing quip in his tongue about it as he pushed the door open. The jest never made it out as he found his son awake, sitting on the bed and staring blankly out the window. "Bae?" he called instead, his voice soft as he inched forward.

Baelfire blinked then, looking like he might not have done so in a while. "Papa."

Rumplestiltskin froze, certain that something was terribly wrong but not quite sure what that something was. His dark eyes studied the younger man quickly, taking in the slump of his shoulders, the pained expression he wore, and the small box tightly gripped in his hand. He let out a long breath and stepped forward as the pieces fell together. "You asked her," he breathed, hoping somehow that he was wrong.

"She said no." Bae pulled in a shaky breath, looking as if he were holding himself together by just a few threads. His eyes met his father's. "I don't know what to do, Papa."

The invitation - the plea - was out there and Rumple moved further into the room and took as seat next to his son. He was no stranger to that terrible ache that accompanied a broken heart. It could eat you up inside if you let it. He'd seen it happen to many a soul that had called on him -_ love kills more than any disease_ - and he'd felt it himself. He'd never handled it well, no matter how many times his darken heart had cracked and felt near to shattering. He buried the pain beneath hate, the desperation for something better beneath violence and manipulation of others. He had no words to make this better for his boy. Even more terrifying was that he knew there _were_ no words of wisdom to alleviate the pain. There were spells, certainly, but none that he'd ever offer to his Baelfire. One might as well rip their own heart out as to take the potion he'd given Snow White once.

So with nothing that he could say, no magic that could do more than cover it up to deal with later, Rumplestiltskin listened as Bae stumbled through the raging emotions. "I just... It's different now. Even when I was a kid we didn't really look for a happy ending, you know. Not like people like Emma's parents do."

Bae's eyes flickered over, watching his father's reaction and Rumple shrugged. "We weren't exactly royalty," he offered. "Our happy ending in those days was survival."

"Maybe I've just been around it so much, but I started thinking that maybe, just maybe, I could reach that, you know? I love her, Papa. I tried to convince myself I didn't and all it got me was a ticket out of her and Henry's lives." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "She didn't even tell me why."

"Perhaps she just needs time," Rumple offered carefully. "Your Emma is stubborn, especially when she's afraid."

"But Emma's not afraid of anything," Bae murmured with a smile that said he didn't believe the words for a moment.

"She puts up a good front," his father agreed.

Bae flipped the box open, dark eyes focused on the ring. "I love her so much, Papa. I thought when she said she wanted to try again and then stayed... I guess I misread it."

Rumplestiltskin stood. "I've seen a lot of people claim True Love over the years, son. Some had it, some didn't, but one thing is certain in everyone who really has found it."

"What's that?"

"It's powerful, and most certainly worth fighting for."

A small smile perked Baelfire's lips. "Thanks, Papa."

"Anyway, you two have Henry as match-maker. Even Emma Swan doesn't stand a chance."

This brought an actual laugh from his son and Bae stood, wrapping his arms around his papa in a tight hug. Rumple returned it. He might have missed more years than he would have ever wanted to in his boy's life, but he was determined to be there for him now.

* * *

"She said no."

Belle perked from her corner and her book. She'd brought him up to the library to show him the rows and rows of tomes and maps and various other assortments half an hour before, but when his grandfather hadn't returned with his dad and mom like he'd expected, Henry had found a window to peer out. It gave him the barest view of the side garden, one magically protected from the piles of snow that had been laid over the front courtyard the night before. It had been the blonde hair that gave the answer away, because that was the only thing that would have caused his mom to be out there alone, missing breakfast, and the only reason why his dad wasn't either with her or with him. He'd asked and she'd said no.

"Said no to what?"

The question caused Henry to tilt his head. "Dad asked Mom to marry him and she said no. Look."

His grandfather's girlfriend stood, her shoes tapping against the stones very lightly as she walked over and joined him in his spying. A frown touched her lips. "You don't know that's what's happened. You don't even know he was asking her today."

"He was going to some time while we were here."

"Did he tell you?"

"No, but it was really obvious. He's been dancing around it for weeks."

Belle gave him a knowing smile. "And you just knew?"

"Well… Gramps may have mentioned something to Grandma Snow who _may_ have accidently let it slip to me." His own smile was rather forced. "But that she said no… Yeah. I just know Mom. She's a hero. She can face anything, but she's scared of getting hurt again, so she protects herself. Dad does it too sometimes. Grandpa too. I guess our whole family kind of hides behind walls, huh?"

"Emma will fit right in."

Henry felt his smile grow a little more real. "You're really brave though. You're not scared to show anything."

"That's not entirely true. I'm afraid of a good many things, I just try to face my fears as best as I can."

"Me too. I guess we'll be the odd ones on this side of the family, huh?"

"We'll just add a little balance is all," Belle said sweetly.

Henry leaned against the window, unable to see his mother past the walled off garden now. He wondered if she'd done that on purpose somehow. "I like our family. It's fun."

"There's certainly never a dull moment."

The teenager sighed. It was going to be a quiet morning. He'd both been looking forward and dreading his father's eventual proposal since Grandma Snow had told him that his dad had asked for Gramp's blessing. Not his _permission_, though, his grandmother had been so adamant about that fact that he hadn't quite understood why. Maybe it was something he was expected to relay to his mother when it all came out, but he couldn't be sure. Either way, he'd known it was coming and knew it was either going to be the best fourteenth birthday he could ever have hoped for… or he'd watch his family crumble around him because Mom was clinging to the past like it was her lifeline.

He excused himself, needing a few minutes alone to piece together everything that was happening around him. Belle was great and someone he didn't think of any less of as family just because his grandfather seemed to have the same nervousness about actually asking as his dad did, but his brain was spinning like mad trying to convince himself that it could still turn out okay in the end.

_Why are you so nervous?_

_Because I have the benefit of a little more… life experience._

Henry wrinkled his nose as he walked down the corridor, noticing one opening up out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored it. Three years later and maybe it should worry him a bit that he was starting to understand what his grandfather had meant.

_Things don't always happen the way we want them to._

He wanted to talk to his grandpa now. Part of him wanted ask him what he could See in this case. Would his mom come around? Maybe she needed a nudge. Should he give her a nudge in that direction, just had he had the whole time he was trying to convince her that the Curse was real?

He stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, a thought striking him. What if she never did and this really would shatter their fragile family?

"There's always a way," Henry breathed, setting his determination so that it wouldn't waver again. That's what Grandma Snow would have told him. Gramps too. He just had to believe and he'd find it. After all, he _was_ in an enchanted castle and there was bound to be something that could inspire him on how to fix this fiasco. They were each other's True Loves, he just needed something that would remind them of that.

It was then that Henry realized that he was completely lost. The hall he'd just come through didn't look the same as when he'd passed through it and he was certain that the door to the left was new. Well, he decided, he had to start looking for inspiration somewhere.

The door gave a loud screech as he pushed against it and it opened up into a room that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Maybe centuries. Pieces of furniture of various sorts were scattered, covered in an array of bedsheets. A musty smell hit him immediately and his centuries theory became set.

He moved through the room, peeking under sheets and looking through drawers. He found what looked like could have been a box of half-written spells, a wand that most likely had _not_ originally belonged to his grandfather, and a little hand-held mirror that seemed to be able to read his mind as to what he wanted to see. Emma's face appeared and Henry felt his chest clench at the obvious stress she was under. It faded over to his father almost immediately, sitting with his grandfather and looking that much worse.

"Don't worry guys, I'll help remind you," he swore, setting the mirror down and looking around for the next chest or drawer to dig through.

The next sheet he pulled wasn't off of anything like that though. It was a looking glass, standing taller than Henry and oval. The glass didn't have a speck of dust on it, despite its location, and it appeared to shimmer when he leaned in. "What are you?" the teen asked, reaching towards it. His hand pressed straight through the glass and he could feel air on the other side. His eyes grew as he pulled it back out and he let out a low whistle. Slowly, bordering somewhere between care and curiosity he leaned towards it and the tip of his nose touched what should have been solid. He kept leaning, hands on either side of the frame to brace himself and finally he pressed his face through the portal and opened his eyes. It was a tunnel of sort, made up of things that filled dreams. Suddenly he was through it, his careful hold on the mirror gone, and he was falling.

* * *

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two. **

Emma didn't know how long she'd been sitting in the garden that seemed just as crazy as the rest of the castle. Snows piled up on its walls and outside of them, but inside it might as well have been springtime. Everything here was weird. The castle was weird, the grounds were weird, the fact that she called them grounds now without a second thought was weird. She hated it and all she wanted to do was leave. To be honest, she hadn't wanted to come in the first place. Growing up, all Emma had done was move. First she'd moved from family to family, then when she escaped that life she'd met Neal and they'd traveled from place to place. Regina was right when she'd called her on not being one to stick around. She didn't know how to up until Storybrooke. Her stay in Tallahassee had only been out of a desperation to find… something. She didn't know what. She refused to know what.

When Mary Margaret had come to her and told her they were growing beans again she'd been hesitant on so many, many different levels. There was something nice about how tiny Storybrooke seemed, how close they all were. She found solace in dropping by Granny's and hearing Leroy gripe and complain about whatever he felt like moaning about that day. There they were people. In the Enchanted Forest, she'd worried, they'd just be characters that she didn't understand.

The first night back had been unnerving. She'd asked Neal to stay, hoping to alleviate some of the strangeness. There were sounds she couldn't possibly place and smells she didn't think were possible. Life was just so different and she had received such a culture shock.

Henry, of course, had soaked it all in as young boys do. There hadn't been a doubt in his mind when he'd hopped through that portal and he'd cheered all the sword fights, all the riding lessons, all of the princely experiences that were to come, because that's what he was: a prince. Her son was a prince and she… No. Emma didn't even _want_ to think it, because it was the furthest thing from her even if it were truth. She was _not_ a princess.

Neal had, in those first couple weeks, been the only thing real. He was her anchor and he was her tether and she'd held on for dear life. He never complained. He never had. She could have sucked him dry and left him to rot and she wondered if he'd complain. They had fun, just as they always had. When David had sat her down when she'd told him that Neal had talked her into going to the Dark Castle - did Gold _really_ need to call it that? Was it _really_ necessary? - and tried to tell her _something_, she'd thought at the time that he was hinting at the propriety of a princess sharing a room with a man she wasn't married to - something she hadn't even considered until he started bumbling around something of that subject - but looking back on it she thought maybe he was trying to clear a path for Neal to give her that damn ring.

The ring. That thing had been beautiful. She had half a mind to ask how he'd managed something like that and then she remembered that the car thief that she'd fallen in love with sat on her father's war council and many other councils. He didn't have a title, but he most certainly had the ear of the king and queen which was, in practice, more useful. Neal had proven to be clever, witty, and quick. She knew her parents approved, and not just because he was Henry's father - okay, that might have had something to do with it - but because they liked him as a human being and a friend.

Emma let out a frustrated sound as she all but collapsed against a bench, a gust of power sluffing off of her and bending a rose bush over to the ground. She blinked at it. That was new. She probably should mention that to Regina when she got back.

That was the problem: there were too many variables, too many expectations. She was a mother, she was the savior, she was supposed to learn magic, and she was supposed to learn how to be a princess and all that that entailed. Now Neal wanted her to be a _wife_ on top of all that. How the hell was that supposed to work?

The rosebush was uprooted and Emma heard a low whistle. She whirled around to see Belle standing there, all quirked eyebrows and a hint of a smile as she motioned toward the offending plant. "Should I leave you a moment?"

Somehow, the words weren't met with the hostility they normally would have been. If Emma didn't know better, she'd think Belle had her own brand of magic that put people's nerves to rest and eased their frantic thoughts just a little. Not enough that they could catch her in the act, but just enough that they settled out of whatever temper they'd been about to rage into. She'd seen her do it with Neal's dad a hundred times over, but she'd never been on the receiving end of the Quiet Calm until then. Damn if the girl wasn't good at what she did.

"No, I think I got it," Emma murmured, slumping down on the bench.

Belle took a seat, accepting the roundabout offer. "Regina has been teaching you, hasn't she? Magic, I mean."

"She's trying. Either she's a terrible teacher or I'm a terrible student. I can't seem to make it work on my terms."

The smile never faltered. "It'll come. I don't practice it myself, but I've read many books in it and have seen Rumple do some truly amazing things when he puts his mind to it. Everything I've seen or read though speaks of a great deal of dedication. It doesn't seem like something you can learn overnight or study sporadically."

Emma shrugged, turning away from Belle. Maybe if she ignored her she'd go away. She couldn't bring herself to be to tell the younger woman - elder? Emma still couldn't wrap her mind around how she should think of their ages if they were frozen in time for twenty-eight years - to simply leave, but she really didn't feel like talking either. She wasn't even sure why she was out here.

"You never came in for breakfast," Belle said, as if reading the blonde's mind.

Yep, definitely some weird form of magic. The whole damn castle was crawling with it. "I needed some fresh air," Emma muttered.

"Henry saw you walking out from the tower. He seemed to think that something was wrong."

Emma blinked, straightening in her seat. Of course Henry had known. The kid was smarter than she knew what to do with half the time. He'd picked up on anything new thrown at him since coming to this place and hadn't left behind his clever intuitions that had gotten them all to the point they were at. He was the only reason that she had come to believe in the Curse at all.

"Neal proposed," she found herself saying and glanced at Belle who was sitting very still and simply waiting to see if she wanted to go on or not. There was no pressure there, just an ear to listen if she wanted it. She told herself she didn't want it and then spoke again. "I said no."

"Henry thought you must have."

"Did Neal tell him he was going to do it?"

"No. Apparently your father and mother knew and it slipped."

"Great," Emma sighed. "That means they're busy setting up a ball for our engagement party for when we get back. No wonder they didn't seem too put out when I told them we were going. The whole damn kingdom probably knew before I did."

This brought a small laugh from Belle. "Well, if it helps, I certainly didn't."

"It's not that I don't love him, you know. I do. I love Neal more than I've loved anyone else other than Henry."

"Does that frighten you?"

"No, of course not," the blonde snapped quickly and couldn't help but stare at the knowing smile and small shrug the other woman gave her. "It's just… quick. It's just too quick. We just got back together."

"About six months ago?"

"Something like that."

"Though you've known him for years."

"Yeah, after he took Pinocchio's advice and let me go to prison," Emma groused and Belle laughed. "I know he thinks that's that and I'm gone, but he just… I just need time."

"Then take it," Belle said as if it were the easiest thing in the worlds. She stood, straightening her dress and turning to look directly at Emma. "No one said that a proposal has to be answered with a yes or a no. You have just as much of a right to take your time as anything else."

"You think?"

"I do. Bae seems to have inherited some of his father's nervousness over things like this, but he had the courage to ask. I'd wager he'll have the courage to wait if that's your decision."

* * *

When Belle had first come to the Dark Castle she'd been pretty well confined to a few rooms. Rumple had known exactly where she was at all times, but as she grew on him and he let her wander - and wander she most certainly did - he'd had to work new spells into the stones, the walls, and the rooms. They were spells meant to keep her from stumbling across or into something too dangerous in his home. He had a wide arrange of collected pieces, many that could have been particularly harmful to someone that didn't know to avoid them or know how to use them.

The spells had weakened in their time away and Rumplestiltskin had done a very quick overhaul of it when they'd gotten in the evening before. It'd been quick and he'd expected to do a more thorough sweep and repair during the day. He wondered if perhaps he shouldn't have waited as a warning hit him hard enough that it could have been a physical blow. He stumbled, feeling the hall that he and Bae had been walking through spin around him.

"Papa?"

He held a hand up, buying himself a moment to reach out. His magic latched on and he pulled at the information. "Henry's gone," he breathed out after a moment.

"Gone? What do you mean gone? Stepped out of the castle?"

"No," Rumple snapped, still trying to get a grip on what was happening within his home. He'd been there and then he'd just _vanished_, setting off the warning. The fact that the person vanishing had been blood related had provided the kick behind the warning that had hit him so hard. If he'd walked out through a door it would have simply alerted him in the vaguest of ways that someone had left. There wouldn't have been anything to worry about. No, he was gone and his grandfather needed to know how and why. And more importantly: where.

"Papa!"

He could hear the panic rising in his son's voice. "I don't know, Bae," he managed, "but I'm going to find out."

He'd been limping along that morning, but magic wrapped around his bad ankle to give him the ability to move quickly. He didn't know exactly where they were going so he couldn't simply teleport them to that place. Instead he had to rely on the constant flow of information that his various spells were sending to him. The magic grew stronger as they wound up a flight of stairs and he could feel Bae's apprehension grow with his silence.

"It's fine," Rumplestiltskin promised, his voice steadier than he felt. "We'll find him. Look." He pointed to where the spell lit smaller footsteps against the floor of the hall. They followed them until they stopped and turned into a heavy wooden door that was cracked open.

"What's in there?"

There were plenty of rooms that he didn't know what they contained, but admitting that this was one of them would not have helped ease his son's worries. So instead he just pushed the door open and looked around. It was a storage room, covered in drapes and half-opened drawers. "Henry is a curious one," he murmured, watching the boy's footsteps light up across the floor, stopping at uncovered pieces of furniture. Finally, they stopped for good at a mirror and Rumple felt like someone had landed a hard blow to his middle as he realized what it was.

Bae turned watched him carefully. "Papa, what is that?"

"It's a mirror, son."

"Yeah, obviously. Why do Henry's footsteps stop there? What's wrong with your spell?"

Rumplestiltskin swallowed hard. "Nothing's wrong with the spell."

"Then what the hell-"

"It's a Looking Glass, Bae," his father cut him off.

"Like… Alice in Wonderland kind of Looking Glass?" Bae managed, voice wavering.

"Yes."

"What are you saying? Henry went _through_?"

Rumple's hand ghosted over the sides of the mirror as he inspected it closely, carefully avoiding what looked like it should be solid glass. He sidestepped it, looking around back, reaching around the whole thing with his magic. It had been used recently, and there were smudges on the side as if someone had held on and tried to lean through.

"My son's in Wonderland, isn't he?" Baelfire whispered.

"It would appear so." Rumplestiltskin barely flicked his wrist and a puff of dark red smoke appeared in the room. When it cleared Emma and Belle were standing there and looking more than a little startled at being plucked from their conversation.

Emma whirled on him and with no warning other than that he'd been pushed by a burst of her untrained magic, landing him hard against the wall. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Gold? You can't just pick people up and put them where you want!"

"Apparently, I can," Rumple bit out, unraveling the magic easily to release himself. "Someone's gotten the emotional part of the training down, just not the control."

"Henry's gone," Bae said tightly, ignoring his father's sarcastic guards.

"Gone where?" Belle asked.

"Through the Looking Glass, from what we can tell," Rumplestiltskin answered, his voice losing the bite and a bit more of the worry he'd hidden behind it leaked through.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Dark eyes flickered to the blonde, ready to deflect another emotional outburst. "Your boy took a trip through a portal, Miss Swan. Henry's in Wonderland."

* * *

Henry was sure that he was falling forever. It felt like he was falling straight down, plummeting to the earth so that when he hit he'd be little more than a smudge, but if he looked around it looked like he might be falling down a hallway. Clocks and framed pictures of people that weren't really people and a bird of a species he didn't recognize lined the walls and for as fast as he might be falling he would just stop at intervals and float.

It could have been hours or minutes, he wasn't sure. The clocks he passed were as useless as the clocktower in Storybrooke had been before Emma had come. Finally, though, he landed at what might be the end, rolling against carpet that felt like wood. He blinked, trying to regain his bearings as he sat up slowly, only to find that he was sitting on the ceiling and not the floor. Slowly, and despite the utter strangeness of it, a smile stretched across his face. "Wonderland," he muttered to himself.

His book had given him a pretty good idea what to expect out of the Enchanted Forest before he'd arrived. Though there were many kingdoms and the book did tend to follow those closest to him around, he had a basic idea of how things could and should work there. It hadn't reached very far into Wonderland, though. He knew that Grace's dad had been stuck here for a while and that Regina had sent her mother through at one point. He didn't even bother to ask himself why his grandfather would have even had a Looking Glass portal just lying around and gathering dust - figuratively speaking - in a room in his castle. He'd stopped asking why he had this or that ages ago when he'd finally started poking through his shop in Storybrooke, first when he wasn't looking, and then finally when he was so that he could explain certain things.

Henry stood unsteadily, finding the upsidedownness of the room playing havoc with his balance. He stretched out his arms and looked around, finally finding a door. He poked at it, half wondering if the doorknob might start talking to him, and when it didn't he took one look back, hand resting on it. The portal was closed. There was no way home in this room, even if he wanted to go. He should want to go, he reminded himself. His parents and grandpa and Belle would worry about him when they couldn't find him. They'd really worry when they figured out where he'd gone to, but there was no fixing that now. It wasn't like he'd stepped through the portal on purpose, after all. He'd simply leaned too far and fallen through.

The only way out seemed to be the door in front of him, and through that door would most certainly lie many impossible things. He just had to find the right impossible thing that would get him home, hopefully before anyone even knew he was missing. It was a big castle. They might search a while. And maybe, he thought as he twisted the knob to the door, he could find the something he was looking for that would fix his parents' problems.

There was a loud creaking sound as the door swung open, but in that moment it was like gravity had changed its mind about where it wanted to pull and Henry found himself tumbling forward, landing hard in a pile of… hats? He looked around, the colours difficult to tell in the dim light of the little cottage, but he was certain that they were hats. Big ones and small ones, top hats and bowlers. There didn't seem to be an end to them. He stood, brushing the dust off that had clung to him and he looked around. This must have been where Grace's papa had stayed while he was in Wonderland, he decided as he shifted through.

A small sound came from the table and the teen perked, inching towards it and trying not to step on any of the felt beneath his feet. He couldn't find the source of the noise at first, but after lifting a few things and shifting them, he found a sugar bowl with a lid on it, from which the sound seemed to be emanating. "Are you snoring?" he asked the sugar bowl and wasn't entirely sure it wouldn't answer him. Slowly, he picked up the lid and peered inside.

A mouse, though not like any mouse he'd ever seen in either of his own worlds, blinked sleepily awake and finally stood, showing the bowl to be empty. "Hello," it greeted.

"Hi," Henry answered. "What are you doing sleeping in there?"

"What are you doing standing out there?" the Dormouse asked with a yawn.

"I fell through a mirror."

The little rodent scrambled out of his bed and straightened his vest. "Lot of that going on these days," he acknowledged. "I'm guessing you're looking for a way home. The Hatter hasn't lived here in quite some time."

"No, he's back in the Enchanted Forest. I know him. Well, I know his daughter."

"Oh!" the little mouse squeaked, looking very excited for a moment before he leaned back against his bowl and the snoring resumed.

"Hey!" Henry said as he poked him, startling him awake. "I know Jefferson isn't here, but I still need a way home. Can you help me?"

"The White Rabbit is your next best bet, but he's been hard to come by recently," the Dormouse said as if he'd never fallen back asleep. "You may want to check Underland. Follow that road there… and…" Henry poked him awake again. "Oh. Thank you. That road there. It's a tree. You can't miss it."

"Can't miss a tree?" the teen asked incredulously and the Dormouse nodded.

"You can't miss it. It's just…" He yawned again, settling back down for his ongoing nap. A yelp escaped him as he was lifted suddenly and put into a pocket in Henry's shirt.

"You can show me then," the boy said cheerfully. "Okay?" He took the muffled, sleepy sound as an acceptance to his terms and started out into the woods, the little mouse tucked safely away in the folds of his shirt.

* * *

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: So I'm still reeling from last night's episode. I'd been looking forward to it for the answers and then hated the answers given. I honestly thought Bae would have been one of the few people safe from the character death we were all debating about. He'd already 'died' once, so it seems a bit redundant to go at it again a season later. Part of me really wants to believe he's still alive this time too…..

**Chapter Three. **

Rumplestiltskin had spent many, many years looking for a way to reach his son. He'd spent lifetimes, in fact, and even when he'd taken the Seer's powers and had sorted out the beginnings of what he needed to do to have someone cast a curse that would lead him to his Baelfire, he'd looked for alternatives. Not because he had any particular qualms with picking up an entire land and dropping it in another, but mostly because there was a fear that rested very deep within him, one that he hadn't even admitted to himself. That fear was that he'd be too late. That he'd find Bae, but not in the way he'd have hoped. Perhaps he'd find a grave marking or a tomb, something that was left for the boy that had been lost to him. The fear crept up on him at night when he finally did give into sleep and latched ahold of him, Bae's accusing young eyes staring up from the open earth where he'd been lain.

So Rumple had searched for ways to speed things along. The curse had been written, that hadn't been too hard. It had taken him a few years to get it perfect and to learn what he could twist and what he couldn't. The basics of it had been written and were ready for any details that needed to be added. The woman that would cast it - he didn't know her name, but he'd seen flashes of her with her dark eyes and hair, darkness flowing from her from where it had been set deep by pain and desperation - wouldn't be born for many years yet and he'd been at a place of waiting. He _hated_ waiting.

His trip to Wonderland hadn't been entirely on purpose. He'd found a Looking Glass and realized that it was a portal when he'd leaned through it much like his grandson had. It had been a fascinating way to pass the time at first with magic at play in every crevice of that world. He'd taken his time going through that world, making deals and gather favours to himself. It was his favourite form of payment, truth be told: that little favour that someone would someday owe him. On his terms, he would call it in and they didn't dare break a deal with him over it.

By the time he'd returned to the Enchanted Forest the charm of the place had worn off a great deal and he'd filed it away as useless to him for finding Bae. It hadn't even passed nearly as much time as he'd hoped and he did his best not to think of it after that. Until this day when it turned out to be all he could think of.

"Wonderland?" Emma echoed, staring at Rumplestiltskin as if she couldn't quite wrap her mind around it.

"Indeed."

"Well, let's go-"

He reached out, hand clamped around her arm and she found his grip to be much stronger than she would have ever expected. Their eyes met. "You don't just rush through a Looking Glass, dearie. Their magic is unpredictable if left to themselves."

"Then he might not be in Wonderland?" Bae asked and his father frowned, shooting Emma a look to make sure she knew not to toss herself through as soon as he let go. When he was sure she wouldn't he released her.

"He's in Wonderland, that much is certain. It's not where he is that is the question, but _when_. Time means little in that world. It doesn't flow in a straight line like there, so just because someone walks through a Looking Glass and another follows through the same one half an hour later doesn't necessarily mean that they'll land in the same time. If not looked after, we could come through a century after Henry landed."

"But you can track him?" Bae insisted.

"Given time."

"We don't have time," Emma snapped. "He could be-"

Rumplestiltskin flicked a hand up briefly and her words silenced though her lips continued to move. "Concentration too," he murmured and his hands returned to the looking glass, magic testing every piece of it to find the exact portal that Henry had fallen through. He had fallen, that much was certain, not stepped, though he had not been pulled or pushed. There was no malice in his trip, just boyish curiosity tipping him too close. That was a good sign. That meant this wasn't a repeat of the Neverland incident.

He pulled his magic together, shifting the portal to the last one that was used so that they could fall through to the same basic time that Henry had, give or take a few hours. "Found it," he said after a moment and took a chance to glance back. There was not asking if anyone wished to stay behind. They were ready and waiting.

He pulled it open so that they could all go through and land in the same place. Emma went through first, the silencing spell pulled from her as she stepped by him, and then Bae and Belle followed. Lastly Rumple stepped through, wishing very much that Henry had found most anything else in the castle besides a damn portal.

Travel to Wonderland was always bizarre, if nothing else. Rumplestiltskin pushed them forward past the blips of magic that tried to stop them in the middle of their journey, and then straight through to a door that opened on command. He could feel the direction of gravity change as they tumbled through and tried to soften the landing, but the piles of hats did that for them more than his magic. He glanced around, having been the only one to land on his feet, and suddenly wished he'd taken the time to track down Jefferson. The crazy hatter still owed him a favour or two and he was always useful in Wonderland.

He turned to meet Emma's shocked expression. "What… the hell?" she managed, blinking owlishly at him and he flashed her an impish grin in return. He stood before them with the full appearance of the Dark One, complete with gold-grey skin and talons in place of perfectly cared for nails, and the wild grin just completed the image. She continued to gawk and he could feel an old giggle of entertainment bubbling in his throat.

It was Bae's uncertain voice behind him though, that caused it to fade. "Papa?"

Rumplestiltskin turned gold eyes on his son, knowing the questions without them needing to be voiced. "It's a glamour, Bae," he assured him. "I've been to Wonderland before and there's a certain… image that needs to be kept. If they were to think I'd slipped at all, there are many here that would jump on the opportunity to take advantage of that."

"Would they go after Henry because of it?"

"There's no reason for them to even know and most wouldn't dare to touch him if they did." He motioned to the glamour. "Hence this."

"You're… sparkly," Emma managed, still gaping. She reached out and poked at his skin, pulling back immediately. "Is this what you used to look like?"

"Yes."

"Well, I'm going to have nightmares..."

Belle cleared her throat, shooting her love a look that clearly said warning would have been nice. Any attempt at an innocent smile from him was entirely lost to the imp's facade he wore and she rolled her eyes, though not without some goodnature to it. "So how do we find Henry?"

Rumplestiltskin stretched out a hand, magic showing only in brief glimmers as it trailed out across the small house, snaking in and around the clumps of fabric, half finished hats, and tea pots. "There's residual magic from where he fell through. I should be able to… Right. There."

Footsteps showed in the dust, walking to a table and then out the door.

"Where do you think he's going?" Belle asked, clear blue eyes following the steps.

"Portals shut once they're used. Likely, he's looking for a new way home."

"So what? He's off to find a white rabbit like Alice?" Emma grumbled.

"Possibly."

"Then I'm not sure what we're waiting for," the blonde bit out and started out the door, Bae at her heels after their son.

Rumple would have been immediately after them if Belle hadn't taken hold of his shirt sleeve and he found worry in those blue eyes. "You said people would take advantage. Who's here that you fear?"

"It's nothing," he said, or at least started to, but the last word died on his lips at the look he received and a sigh escaped him. "I've made many enemies over the years, Belle, and one particularly nasty one resides here."

"The nightmare you had this morning."

His expression softened, even behind the mask of the imp. "You are clever, aren't you?"

The smile was strained, but she tipped up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I'm just very adept at reading you, my love."

* * *

When he had started walking Henry had begun to check every decent-sized tree in his path. He'd lean in, knocking against the bark, not sure exactly what he was looking for. He was searching for the Underland, the Dormouse had told him, but the little rodent hadn't budged since he started off. Every once and a while he'd let out a tiny little snore as if to alert Henry that he wasn't, in fact, dead in his pocket, but he never provided any further instructions. His search hadn't been made any easier by the fact that it had begun in a forest where he was surrounded by trees. He had, finally, broken free of the thick foliage, but nothing made itself known.

"Lot a good you're doing," the teen muttered and took a seat under a tree that had proved to be like the last one: just a tree. The road stretched out in front of him forever with only green hills rolling on either side. There was nothing else, as far as he could see, and he hardly thought going back would do a bit of good, so he focused on what to do next, trying to think of everything he'd read out of either his book. This was a place where magic was woven into every rock, every blade of grass, and every flower. Stranger things never happened anywhere else than they did here. Even Neverland hadn't felt like this place, or perhaps he simply hadn't known how to feel for it then.

His grandpa had said he was a natural, once he'd finally agreed to teach him a few magical basics. "Clever boy," he'd always say approvingly when Henry had passed little tests that were put before him. They'd been childsplay, certainly, to the Dark One teaching his grandson, but that hadn't deterred the teen from feeling a swell of pride that he'd passed first off. One particular test had come when Henry couldn't find the kickball that had been his father's as a child and Grandpa had stood with that knowing smirk that he wore that always drove Mom - both of them - to threatening physical harm. "Find it," he'd instructed simply and Henry had blinked up at him, telling him he had no idea how. His grandfather had chucked and shrugged, limping back to his office and telling him that he'd find a way. He had, his own determination acting as a spell without words and bringing the proudest smile from his grandpa that he'd ever seen.

Now Henry stood on the path in Wonderland, a sleeping mouse in his pocket, and determination welling up within him. He needed to find this place so that he could get home. That was the goal. Anything else… Well, it was pointless if he didn't find a way back.

His dark eyes traveled along the bricked road, looking for a sign that his untrained magic was willing to lend him the help he needed. He hadn't practiced anything in some time now. His grandfather had cut off his lessons just after the Blue Fairy's death and the sickness that had rolled in across the land. Something stirred in him now, even without recent training, and he felt his feet moving forward and he followed them all the way to a tree with a door in it.

"And what do you think you're doing?" a voice asked from behind.

Henry turned, eyes coming to focus on a man dressed all in black. He pulled the dark scarf down to show young features, but still years older than the teen. "Is this the Underland?"

"It is, but it's not for kids. What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for a way home. The Dormouse -" he lifted the snoozing mouse from his pocket and he stirred only slightly - "said to come here. He said that it'd be the best place to look for the White Rabbit."

The man looked down on him, studying the boy. "White Rabbit doesn't come around here, that's for sure. Hey you?" He poked the Dormouse and he startled awake. "What are you doing bringing kids to the Underland?"

"What kids?" the Dormouse yawned.

"This one, you git. The one whose pocket you're all tucked away in."

Mousy brown eyes blinked up at Henry. "Oh him? He's a kid? You humans are all so big. I can't tell the difference."

Henry grinned. "Well, is there anyone else in there that could help?"

"The Caterpillar might, if you've got the right payment. He's a dealer, he is, not a charity. You've got to have proper payment for his help."

A laugh escaped the teen. "Sounds like my grandpa. He's good at making deals. I bet I could be too. Can you introduce me to him?"

"No promises, kid," the debt collector told him and pushed the door open.

Henry descended into a world beyond anything he'd seen before. Music played from instruments that he was sure didn't exist in either The Land Without Magic or the Enchanted Forest. Men and women in fancy dress and masks drank at their tables and some danced in the open space. At the front and center sat a caterpillar, just as the book described him. He was huge, and Henry wondered just how tall he would be if he stood all the way up. The giant insect inhaled deeply on the hookah and turned his attention very slowly to the man that had led Henry inside. It was difficult to tell exactly where he was looking for the round, tinted glasses, but the teen felt a chill pass through him as the large bug swiveled on him. He had to be confident, he reminded himself.

"Come closer, boy," the Caterpillar beckoned and Henry moved forward, the crowd parting for him. "Who are you?"

The teen coughed as the smoke hit him and he waved at it. "Henry. I fell through a Looking Glass and I'm looking for a way home to the Enchanted Forest."

The Caterpillar leaned in, studying him. "Interesting boy from an interesting world," he remarked. "Nothing comes for free."

"I know that."

"A portal is an expensive request. What could a child such as you pay with?"

Henry forced himself to remain steady. He had nothing besides the Dormouse in his pockets. If he'd known he was going to go crashing through to another world, he might have come better prepared, but as he stood all he had to offer was on the other side if the Looking Glass.

The Caterpillar chuckled as he watched him. "I may have something for you, if you're willing to pay the price."

Henry nodded eagerly. "Sure."

"So eager, without even knowing what I'm asking for."

The teen froze. Always know the price, that had been his grandp's first lesson to him when he was reaching him magic. "Always know the price and know if you're willing to pay it. If the price is too high, no matter how much you want what's been dangled in front of you, there will be times it's best to walk away and find another path." The words certainly made more sense now.

The Caterpillar offered him a grin that did not put him at ease. "Don't worry yourself, boy. I'm not so greedy as you might think. I just have a little task for you and you'll be on your way home before the sun sets tomorrow."

* * *

Visions did not behave appropriately in Wonderland. It wasn't as if they were well laid out in the Enchanted Forest either, but they were certainly worse here. At home, it was a puzzle with missing pieces. Here, pieces were not only missing, but they could be simply _wrong_. Things didn't fit like they looked like they should and things that didn't look like they fit did, but it was impossible to tell the difference. Not telling the difference could be deadly though. It either had him looking over his shoulder at every turn, planning for something that would never come and missing what was right in front of him, or worse, not planning for it and running up on something nasty enough that it could get them all killed.

"Papa?"

Being pulled out of a vision abruptly was almost as bad as when they snuck up on him. It left Rumplestiltskin with the sensation that the ground beneath his feet had begun to sway and he reached out to catch himself. Bae steadied him at his side, concern in his eyes as he tried to catch his father's unfocused gaze.

"I'm alright," Rumple managed, though hardly sounded it and Bae's grip tightened on his shoulder. He blinked, bringing his son into focus in front of him.

"What'd you See, Papa?" Baelfire asked him. He'd grown used to the signs of his father's visions.

"Difficult to say here," Rumplestiltskin breathed. "Everything's upside down and inside out, including visions that are tricky on a good day."

"Anything about Henry?" Emma asked, still shying away from standing too close. If the situation had been any less troubling - if the glimpses of vision had been any less troubling - he would have found great entertainment in it.

"I don't think so."

"Did you see _her_?"

All eyes turned to Belle, but she was entirely focused on Rumplestiltskin. Their gazes met and he couldn't lie to her. It'd do him little good anyway. "Yes."

"Who is this 'her'?" Bae murmured, his voice soft yet not leaving room for evasion.

Rumple glanced between them and a sigh escaped. "Belle is referring to a woman - a creature, really, I'm not sure she was ever even human - that I once met here. She is who I saw, but it might mean nothing."

"Or it might mean everything," his son countered. "Who is she, Pop?"

"They call her the Jabberwocky and she is not to be trifled with. If the vision was that or if it was just a trick of this place, I have no way to know, but if the Jabberwocky is involved in any fashion, it's best we collect Henry as quickly as possible and go home."

"Okay, so we need to find him before all hell breaks loose. That's sadly nothing new," Emma grumbled. "You've been here before, Gold. Where do we start, because we've been walking around in these woods longer than I'd like."

"Magic works different here, dearie. I can't just pop in and out as I can back home. As to where to start, though, I believe I have an answer to that. There's an acquaintance of mine that - unless he's greatly changed in the last years - knows a bit about everything and everyone that passes through Wonderland."

"Will he help us?" Bae asked.

"He owes me more than one favour. I think it's time I collected from the Caterpillar."

* * *

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four. **

Emma had not been happy when Rumplestiltskin had told them to stay in the shadows. He hadn't wanted them to come inside at all, but she'd put her foot down so hard that he had half thought she'd shake the world with it. Bae had stood next to her on the decision and Belle had agreed. If anything went wrong - and by the looks of the crowd inside _anything_ could very easily go wrong - Rumple would need backup. Deep reservoirs of magical power or not, his mortality that had been the price of regaining his soul in full was a weakness that a crowd of ruffians could take advantage of if given just the right opportunity.

Rumple had finally relented with the understanding that they were to stay quiet, out of sight, and let him do what was needed, regardless of how it might sound. This last statement was directed at his son and his love. No one bothered to question the fact that he had no real internal moral compass, he relied on them in his darkest moments to remind him of the man he wanted to be, but there were times - times like these - that the imp was still needed. Scaley gold skin, amber eyes, and claw-like nails did nothing if the personality didn't go with it. The Caterpillar would test him, and if he found anyone different than he was expecting then it would become much more difficult to collect on the debt owed. He'd be able to, of course, but they would like that even less than a facade.

Bae had walked in with both Emma and Belle, proving the decision wise as eyes immediately went to the two women. The way they roamed up and down made Belle visibly nervous, especially when one man - very large and very, very drunk - walked immediately over to her and started offering her a drink. Rumplestiltskin had to remind himself why they were there as the urge to pull the man's unbridled tongue from his mouth and let him gawk at it built within him. He shoved the impulse down deep, putting his trust in his son to deal with the situation as needed.

He'd entered with them, though a spell kept anyone from noticing him. He watched, skulking through the crowd as he'd once done on a fairly regular basis and no one was the wiser. He heard little of use as he drifted through. A few of the Caterpillar's bounty hunters - a new addition to his following since Rumple had last been to Wonderland - were looking for someone known as The Knave of Hearts and a girl that was with him named Alice. He knew enough from his cursed memories in Storybrooke to know that that must be Alice of _Alice in Wonderland_, though he hardly thought the story was as the Land Without Magic thought it was. It seemed that they rarely got it right in full.

There had been a recent shift in power amongst the people as well. The Red Queen had been dethroned, according to one conversation that he happened to pause at for more than a moment. Jafar, a foreigner from a faraway land, had ripped her throne from her, imprisoning her, and - the latest rumor according to one woman in a mask with a smile that charmed all the men in her vicinity - had killed her. What did this Jafar want? No one knew for sure, but power was at the center of it, that much was certain.

Rumplestiltskin slipped through the crowds, keeping one eye on his family. One poor soul had made the mistake of trying to drop some terrible one-liner on Emma and Bae just laughed as the man suddenly wore the drink that his love had been offered along with it. A smirk touched the Dark One's lips at the sight and he knew that of all the women in all the worlds that Emma Swan was perfect for his son. It would be up to her to see that too though.

The song shifted and Rumple stepped closer to his intended target. Having been such a showman for so many years had taught him how to set up an entrance like few could. Often it just mean that he had to pop into the room where he was least expected. He still had to say, that out of all of his entrances, the one that he'd used when he met Belle was one of his favourites. Simply appearing in her father's chair had been a glorious display of his power that he hadn't planned to use. The bumbling lord hadn't bothered to kick him out, even if Gaston had tried to threaten him with his sword.

This time, though, there were no swords pointed at him. No lords presided over a little town that needed saving, no, he was shifting his way through a crowd to get what he wanted. He knew certain faces through here. Centuries between meant nothing for most in Wonderland. Time meant nothing. Several of these people owed him favours, he noticed, but there was one that he was willing to pull it from.

Rumplestiltskin let the spell fall and the music slowed to a stop, some players recognizing him before others. Certainly some didn't know him at all, but it was difficult to miss the power that he brought with him. Gone were the days of the cowering spinner who would sink to the ground to kiss a man's boot to save his son for a few brief days. He'd still give anything to protect those he loved, but he had power now and power was enough to gain him leverage that he'd never known in his younger years.

The Caterpillar seemed to notice that everything had slowed and all eyes eventually turned to the man standing in the middle. He was an oddity, even here in Wonderland, with his gold skin and amber eyes. He flashed a dangerous, toothy smile, reveling in the fact that those nearest to him shrank away, hoping to become invisible amongst those in the crowd. The bug, as large and high as he ever was with his fez upon his head and gloves on several hands, chuckled from his place, his guards readying their weapons nervously. "Greetings, Dark One. It has been some time."

"Time, yes," Rumple answered, his voice pitched upward into a near-giggle as he spoke. "Something you have much of. Like the new surroundings, Caterpillar. You've done well with what I gave you."

The overgrown insect frowned and tilted his head, speaking lowly to his guard on his left. The man nodded and stepped down off the stage. Amber eyes didn't follow him, but Rumple knew where he was with every step.

"I make my way," Caterpillar answered. "And what brings you back to Wonderland, Rumplestiltskin?"

The Dark One let another smile creep to his lips, gold eyes shifting and watching people try to scramble out of his view. They'd been laughing and drinking just moments before, but the instant sobriety of the room just proved he hadn't lost his touch. "I seem to remember a favour you owe me. A couple of them, in fact."

"And you're here to collect?"

"Indeed. I'm not one to leave my books unbalanced forever, you see." The guard was coming around behind him with half a dozen of his friends. They thought he didn't see them. Hell, from Bae's expression to the side, _he_ thought that his father didn't see them. Rumple continued on with his easy smile, just a hint of danger in the way the edges quirked up.

"There's a rumour that's spread through Wonderland," the Caterpillar said as he took a deep drag from his hookah. "It says that the Dark One died."

Rumplestiltskin tutted. "It's not nice to spread rumours, dearie. I'm whole in front of you, aren't I? Immortality makes death tricky." The guards rushed him from all sides, but a flick of his hand sent them all sprawling back at once into the crowd. They scrambled, but the one that had whispered into the Caterpillar's ear had Rumple's attention as of that moment and he was clawing at the invisible noose around his throat as he was lifted into the air. Belle would fuss at him later, he was sure, but the reaction was worth it.

"I see I should not put quite such stocks into rumours spread about you," Caterpillar managed, setting the pipe down.

The grin only widened. "No, you really shouldn't," Rumple agreed and sent the captive guard flying. He'd live and Belle would feel better about his soul. He'd learned not to argue with her over it.

"What is it that I can do for you?"

"I'm looking for information."

"Information is expensive these days. You never know who might find out about it."

"Good thing you owe me quite a deep debt then, isn't it? I'm looking for a boy. Young, but not quite a child any longer. Dark hair and eyes. He'd be looking for a way to leave Wonderland."

Rumplestiltskin watched the Caterpillar as he took in his words. There was a pause there, one that showed he was turning the information over in his mind longer than should have been necessary. He'd either seen Henry or he hadn't. He'd either heard of him or he hadn't. Children were not abnormal in Wonderland, certainly, but Henry would stick out. The thought process should not take this long, no matter what he filled that hookah of his with.

"What is a boy to you?"

"What the boy is to me is none of your concern. My deals are my own, and right now, Caterpillar, you and I are discussing the deal _we_ made and the debt _you_ owe to me."

"I'm afraid my debt may go unpaid this day, Dark One. I haven't seen him nor heard of him. Children don't tend to wander alone here, with only one or two exceptions."

Caterpillar reached back for his hookah pipe and it vanished without warning, the room growing distinctly colder as Rumplestiltskin took a firm step forward. "I know a lie when I hear one."

"I have no reason to lie to you. I prefer to keep myself whole."

Rumple could recognize a bluff anywhere, but before he could dig deep enough to tell the reason behind it, a voice spoke up. "I can help you find him." The owner of the voice pulled back her hood and turned her unafraid gaze on him.

"Can you now, dearie?"

"I can, and if I do then you forgive his debt, and in return, he forgives the one that he holds over my friends and I."

"Alice, what a surprise," the Caterpillar greeted. "I thought you and your Cyrus would have been long gone from Wonderland by this point, what with you stealing my Lost and Found and all. You and the Knave owe me the Forget Me Knot as well."

"Two debts, paid in full when I take care of yours with the Dark One," Alice offered. "Deal?"

Rumplestiltskin watched carefully and he found the Caterpillar looking at him in turn, trying to gage if he'd take it or not. "It matters little to me about your debts between you," he said cheerfully, "as long as I find what I'm looking for. The deal is struck, dearie, if your multi-legged friend is willing to go in on it."

"Deal," Caterpillar said uneasily.

Gold eyes flickered ever so briefly and caught Bae's. His son seemed to catch the unspoken request and he, Emma, and Belle started moving towards the exit. Rumple fixed his gaze back on the Caterpillar. "Always a pleasure doing business with you," he drawled before turning. "Shall we?" he offered to Alice.

"We shall," a man answered instead, coming to stand by her side. One of the _friends_, obviously, for whom she was willing to go on this bit of a quest to clear the name of. The man wore a smile, but there was something just beneath all of that. Years, for one thing, and hard-learned lessons that someone without those many years likely wouldn't have learned. He stood close to Alice, and though his expression didn't indicate any worry at all, his body language proved that he had no trust in the Dark One.

Rumple let a smile slip into place and an eyebrow quirked upward. "I suppose it's both or none?"

"It is," the young man answered and it clicked. He certainly looked like a normal man, but he'd been touched by a curse only recently lifted from him. He would either prove very useful or very troublesome.

Rumplestiltskin gave a shrug, starting towards and up the winding stairs, throwing a casual wave towards the Caterpillar over one shoulder. He heard Alice and her friend scramble behind him and he broke free into the sunlight. The others were waiting for him there.

"Okay, that was the weirdest thing I've ever seen," Emma acknowledged.

"I'll admit that the giant, talking caterpillar was a little less odd in the books than staring at it right in front of you," Belle agreed.

"It wasn't _just_ the Caterpillar," the blonde argued. "Not that that's not included. What the hell did he owe you for?"

Rumple shot her a smile that was always sure to get under her skin. "Oh, a bit here and there."

"I get the feeling we don't want to know," Bae murmured and his papa's smile faded just a little.

Alice clear her throat, gaining the attention of the search party that seemed to have forgotten that they'd added strangers to their ranks. Belle spoke up first, a smile touching her painted lips. "Hello. I'm afraid we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Belle, this is Baelfire, and Emma. You've already met Rumple."

The young woman shot a questioning look at the nickname. "I'm Alice and this is Cyrus."

"Aren't you supposed to be a little blonde girl in a blue dress?"

Alice blinked at Emma, not sure how to take the statement, but Rumplestiltskin waved it off. "The time's come to make yourself useful, dearie, unless you're going back on our deal."

It was Cyrus' eyes that narrowed on him. "I've heard of you, Dark One. I hear no one breaks deals with you."

"Very true. That being understood, I think it's time you told us where Henry is."

Alice and Cyrus exchanged looks and Rumple felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that he didn't dare show.

"We don't know _exactly_ where he is," Cyrus admitted.

Gold eyes flashed, the anger quickly taking dread's place. "Our deal-"

"Was that we'd help you find him," Alice finished for him, meeting his fury-filled look with a steady one if her own. "Rumours travel quickly here and I understand he was in the Underland just a few hours ago and was set on a quest by the Caterpillar himself in return for a way home. Something about a lost treasure. I'm afraid I don't know the details, but he hasn't been gone long. We should be able to catch him if we go now."

"That lying little insect," Rumple growled. He'd known it, but he hadn't know to what degree the Caterpillar had tried to cheat him.

"Hey," Bae's voice reached his ears and his son's hand touched his shoulder. "Let's find Henry."

"Right," his father breathed, gold eyes flickering to meet Bae's and he nodded. "Let's find Henry."

* * *

The Caterpillar had always considered himself a survivor. He held a very good chunk of power within Wonderland and could usually rely on the the secrets he trafficked in. He knew things others didn't and it elevated his importance. It also put a target on his back as powers shifted. He had no interestin making an enemy of the Dark One, but Rumplestiltskin had proven himself to have very little patience for Wonderland. He'd be gone soon enough, but Jafar would remain.

"The Dark One is here in Wonderland?" Jafar mused from his usurped throne and the Caterpillar shot a nervous glance to where the white haired woman that he knew well enough.

"Yes, he is a sorcerer of-"

"I know who the Dark One is," Jafar snapped. "I've heard the stories of his power. It's said to be limitless. What has he come for?"

"A boy. I don't know who he is. The Dark One has an affinity for making deals of all kinds, and I've certainly heard of him taking children as payment before. It wouldn't be the first time."

"And he's traveled all the way to Wonderland for this boy. Interesting." He turned to the white haired woman and her dark eyes flashed in interest, making the Caterpillar cringe. "You've had dealings with this Dark One, haven't you?"

A smile tilted her lips up at the edges. "I have."

"And you know his weaknesses?"

"His fears are some of the strongest I've ever tasted."

Jafar's own smile was that of a man who had received news of a kingly gift coming his way. "Caterpillar, you've done well and will be rewarded as such. I'll leave you with my associate here to detail out the location of the child. It's high time I met such a powerful sorcerer."

"And if I bring him to you?" the woman asked, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "What of _my_ reward?"

His smile did not faulted. "I'd say you will have earned quite a reward indeed, should you bring the Dark One over to our cause."

* * *

He'd been walking for what seemed like hours. Since they'd come to live in the Enchanted Forest for good - he assumed, as long as people stopped trying to curse them at any rate - Henry felt he'd become more accustomed to long treks on foot. They didn't bother him for the most part, but somewhere around the section of the road in which the hills grew and shrank at random Wonderland began to lose its charm.

Henry had taken a seat and was waiting for the latest bout of rolling to finish when the Dormouse suddenly perked from his pocket. It was the first sign of life he'd seen from the little rodent since the Underland's door. Some sort of panic seemed to have taken hold of him as he tumbled from the folds, tripping over himself in his haste. "Where are you going?" Henry asked.

"_She's_ here," the mouse gasped, tumbling to the grassy hill. "Run! Run for your life!"

Henry watched as he scurried off without any further explanation. He stood slowly and would have thought it had been some sort of nightmare that had shaken his companion if not for the drop in temperature. He wasn't sure it actually dropped, but he certainly felt a chill pass through him and he turned, finding nothing where he was sure eyes had been watching. With a shaky sigh he decided to follow the Dormouse's advice, just in case. He'd turned back around to continue his journey when he found a pair of dark eyes staring directly into his.

A small sound escaped the teen as he startled back, never having heard the woman approach. She tilted her head and straightened her body from where she'd been bent over to match his eye level. Her movements reminded him of a cat that had just stood from it's napping place, stretching and watching with fascination in her eyes. Like a cat about to trap a bird.

"Hello," she greeted, her voice low and she put a hand on Henry's shoulder as she began to circle him.

"Hi," he answered, speaking as evenly as possible. He could feel a fear creeping in and he tried to push it down. _Do the brave thing and bravery follows_, he'd heard Belle say. It had to be true. He came from a line of heroes. His birth mother was the savior and his adopted mom was one of the best sorcerers in all the lands, topped only by Henry's own grandfather. He was _not_ afraid.

"Look at you," she cooed into his ear from behind, her hand clamped on his shoulder so he couldn't get away if he wanted to. "Brave little prince, but not as brave as you'd like them to think. You're so very afraid of..." She circled back around, bending again at the awkward angle and Henry was frozen in place and he could _feel_ her inside his mind. A smile tilted her lips very briefly. "So very afraid of not living up to all their expectations. There are a lot of them, aren't there, Henry? So afraid of... losing your family that you've fought so hard for."

He turned dark eyes on her, feeling the fear set in deep. "Who are you?"

"I'm called the Jabberwocky, and you, Henry, are going to help me buy my freedom."

* * *

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five. **

Henry didn't know when he'd passed out, but when he did wake up it was as if from a nightmare. He heard himself crying out as he shot up, hand reaching, but he wasn't sure what for. It had been terrible, he knew, somehow worse than the nightmare that had been the room on fire after the Sleeping Curse. He worked his way through the dream and wished he hadn't when he found it in the backlogs of his half-awake memories. They were dead. His mom, his dad, his grandpa, and Belle… He'd dreamt that they had followed him and that someone had killed them. It was his fault.

"She feeds off fear," a voice said and Henry eased up to his knees. He was in a holding cell and apparently not alone.

"Who does?"

"Lady that brought you in here," came the answer. "White hair, freaky expression? She's the Jabberwocky."

"Did she get you too?" Henry asked as he moved closer to the bars, pressing his his face up against them so he could strain to see the person that belonged to the voice.

"Yeah, she did," he answered and Henry could see him leaned up against the bars in his own cell. The man wasn't bothering to turn to look at him though, and the teen couldn't help but think he looked like he'd felt when he'd woken from the nightmare. Finally, after a stretch of silence he turned just a little as he spoke. "Not sure what they want with you though. You're just a kid."

"I'm fourteen," Henry argued. "Well… almost."

The man looked startled. "You're the mayor's kid!"

"You're from Storybrooke?"

"Well, I was there for some of it, yeah. Didn't really mean to leave, to be honest."

"How'd you get to Wonderland?"

"This time? Bloody White Rabbit. Let me tell ya kid, if a rabbit ever comes to you and says someone needs your help, just turn and walk away. Ain't worth it."

"I've been looking for the White Rabbit so I could get home, but I didn't find him. I fell through a Looking Glass in my grandpa's castle. So… you know me. What's your name?"

"Will."

"Hi Will. I'm Henry."

"Yeah, everyone in town knew your name. Your mum's a little nutty though."

Henry found himself laughing at that and his eyes roamed the room. "She's getting better," he promised and his gaze came to rest on what looked like a glass coffin. A woman lay so still inside of it that she must have been dead. "Who's she?"

"Anastasia," Will answered and Henry thought he must know why this other man was so sad.

"She was really pretty."

"Yeah, she was."

Footsteps echoed down the corridor and Henry gripped the gate's bars. He heard Will shift, but it didn't look like elder man had the gumption to stand at this point. The steps grew louder and a man rounded the corner, dark and dangerous, and he let his fingers ghost over the top of the casket. "Good evening, Knave. Enjoying the view?"

"_Bastard_," Will hissed.

The other man tutted. "There are children present." He turned dark eyes on Henry. "Hello there, young one."

"Why'd you bring me here?"

"I have a few questions. There's no need to fear me, as long as you provide the answers that I need. Tell me, why would the Dark One travel across realms after you?"

Henry clamped his mouth shut. He wouldn't give this man anything, that much he could do for his family. They were there and looking for him. He wouldn't compromise them by telling his man the truth.

"Very well then," he breathed. "You've met the Jabberwocky, haven't you, boy?"

The teen tensed, watching the white haired woman with careful eyes. He knew her and he didn't like her. He doubted anyone liked her.

"I thought as much. I'll leave her to receive your answer. When you're ready, of course."

Her lips twitched in what might have been a quick, vicious smile. "Hello, Henry," she greeted and she hadn't even reached the bars by the time that the images from the nightmare returned and Henry felt himself begin to shake.

* * *

When he'd been a child, Baelfire had been a trusting sort. He'd trusted the law to have their best interest in mind when it had been decreed that a fourteen-year-old was old enough to fight in a war, he'd trusted the Blue Fairy when she'd handed him a bean and told him it would take he and his father to some place better, and he'd trusted his papa to make good on his word to go with him. Bae wasn't a child any longer and life had taught him not to be quite as trusting as he once had been.

It had been Emma that had brought his attention to the "creepy snake stick" as she called it. Cyrus hadn't put it down since they'd begun traveling together and he shifted it into his grasp if anyone other than Alice happened to walk too close to him. He certainly had less trust in them than perhaps should have been there for two people who had so willingly volunteered to help.

The questions were piling up. It had seemed as straight forward as the situation could have been when Alice had said she would lead them to Henry. She owed the Caterpillar a debt, the Caterpillar owed Rumplestiltskin a debt, and if she had information that the Caterpillar didn't have - or didn't wish to share - it seemed like an easy way to clear the books on all levels. Now, though, Bae found himself wondering about alternate agendas and the like. Alice had spoken to him very briefly when they set out, indicating that she didn't think their dynamic made sense to her. She'd been thinking out loud, from the sound of it, first calling Emma, Belle, and he bounty hunters for Rumplestiltskin, which had nearly made him laugh despite the stress his missing son was causing him. Alice had then gone on to say that that didn't make any sense - perhaps it was the look Bae had worn at the thought of Belle as a bounty hunter or Emma taking orders from his father - and had settled on the idea that she appeared to be keeping as her own: that he somehow controlled the Dark One and that Rumplestiltskin was working for him.

"I've heard of a dagger," she had said in hushed tones, glancing back at where his father was walking with Belle, "and I saw how he stopped as soon as you told him to."

Bae had let her think as she wished. His papa had had a point when he'd said that people would take advantage of anything they could with him. If they thought he was anything less than the all-powerful Dark One and that his only child and love of his life were traveling with him… Well, that wouldn't be particularly fun. For his father's sake and for Henry's, their family connection should be kept well under wraps.

It had been because of that that Baelfire hadn't dropped back to speak to his father. He needed to. He needed to hear that they were going to find Henry and that he'd be fine, even if he knew his papa's visions weren't working as they should. Something was better than nothing and hope was better than the endless questions. That was something that he desperately needed right now: hope. His son was missing, the love of his life had turned him down flat in his marriage proposal… Just like he'd feared. He'd barely let himself think on that little nugget of ache since early that morning. They had to find Henry, after all, and that took precedence over anything else. They'd been walking in silence for some time, though, and it seemed his mind refused to find anything positive to focus on. It was either Emma or Henry.

"You're thinking awful hard," Belle's voice chirped in his ear and he startled at it.

"Just… yeah."

She chuckled very softly at his response. "Your papa does that, you know. That thing where you get so fixated on whatever's going on in your head that the world could be torn apart around you and you wouldn't know it until you came out of it."

Bae grimaced, realizing she'd probably been trying to gain his attention for the last few moments. He risked a glance over at Emma who looked to be trying to get an inconspicuous read on their traveling companions and then back to his father whose expression was impossible to read for sure under the mask of the imp.

"Emma'll come around," Belle said quietly. "She's just a bit overwhelmed."

"Did you talk to her?"

"I did. I think she cares very much for you, Bae. Don't worry too much over it. We'll find Henry and things will fall into place as they're supposed to. I know it doesn't always seem that way, but in the end it does seem to work out, doesn't it?"

"Have you been hanging around the Charmings again?" Bae managed to chuckle and received a half-hearted swipe for his efforts.

"I'm serious," Belle answered, though a smile was present. "Didn't we think the world was over when he died, when Emma and Henry were stuck in the Land Without Magic and we didn't know how to get you back to them?"

"Seems so long ago," Bae admitted.

"See? We'll find him and he'll be okay."

He'd needed to hear it from the man that saw the future, but somehow Belle saying it rang just as true as if she'd Seen it herself. A thank you bubbled in his throat, ready to pass his lips, but a screeching sound made him stop, and they both tensed. It had been a small sound, but filled with so much fear that it was enough to put them on edge. Apparently they weren't the only ones as Alice drew her weapon and Rumplestiltskin stepped in front of his son and Belle, golden eyes searching the terrain.

A little mouse, complete with vest and a hat, came scurrying across. "Run for your life!" he yelled out. "She's here!"

Alice seemed to recognize the little rodent and bent to scoop him up. "Dormouse, what's wrong?"

"Alice! Alice!" the mouse squeaked. "She's _here_!"

"Who's here, Dormouse?"

He was shaking in her hands, turning large eyes on her and ignoring the hesitant crowd around. "It's her! Rumours had spread that Jafar had released her, that the vorpal blade no longer held her! It's true, Alice! I saw her and fear spreads wherever she goes!"

Alice turned to Wonderland's visitors. "He means-"

"The Jabberwocky," Rumplestiltskin finished for her, his voice low and guarded. Gone were the playful quips and the impish entertainment. Bae felt a chill run down his spine just at the name and he locked eyes with his father very briefly before those strange eyes returned to the shivering mouse. "Where was she?"

"She took a boy," the Dormouse answered. "I told him to run, but he didn't get away. Oh… She doesn't care much for children. She doesn't care. She'll rip him apart as she would anyone else."

"This Jabberwocky has Henry?" Emma managed.

"If she has him, then Jafar has him," Cyrus said, turning his eyes on Rumple. "What would Jafar want with this child that you're after?"

Bae watched his father bristle at the near-accusation, the anger at the news almost tangible as it rolled off of him in powerful waves. His son knew that the information he'd given about the Jabberwocky hadn't even scratched the surface of what was really going on with this creature. He didn't know if it was a deal gone bad or if it was some sort of rivalry between two powerful sorcerers. With his father, it really could be anything.

"I've never met this Jafar, but I guarantee that he does _not_ want to meet me if he's taken that boy." His eyes flashed as they bore into the younger man. "Point us in the direction of where he resides and you may consider your part done in our deal."

Alice and Cyrus exchanged looks. "He's in the Red Queen's castle, but… We have a friend being held there. If you can get us past the guards, we can get you into the holding area. We can help each other in that."

"Alice," Cyrus hissed lowly and she glared.

"I'm not leaving Will there to rot."

"All Jafar has to do is call him back with the bottle."

"Then we get that too," the feisty brunette answered, turning back to the others. "We're not asking for your help in that. We can split ways as soon as we're in, but sneaking into the Queen's castle is always tricky."

Bae shot Emma a glance and saw how her eyes were narrowed.

"Your help is not necessary," his father said, or started to, but Bae jumped in and cut him off.

"You can get us to in to get to Henry?"

"If you'll help us get in as well."

"Deal," Bae said before his papa could stop him. He met those gold eyes and didn't waver. "The deal's struck. We're going after Henry now and we're going to need all the help we can get."

* * *

Belle would say he was sulking, but really, his mind just wouldn't stop. He hadn't gotten a chance to pull Bae aside yet and ask him what the hell had possessed him to strike such a deal. His boy was clever, there was no questioning that, and Rumplestiltskin wanted to believe he had a good reason for agreeing to it, but desperation made people do things that they wouldn't normally do: such as put trust in complete strangers to walk them into a trap. Following them through the open had been one thing, but into the bowels of a castle that he couldn't teleport out of was asking for trouble.

They'd set up camp not too far from the castle. The treeline hid them from sight and as soon as they'd settled in for the night he'd slipped a few yards away to sit alone on a log. He heard the leaves crunch behind him and he would have known his son's steps even if his magic hadn't fed that information to him. He closed his eyes, pulling in a deep breath.

Baelfire took a seat next to his father and the two men were silent for several long moments. "Sorry I jumped in there," he said at last and Rumple could feel his gaze on him.

"Do you trust them?"

"No."

This caught Rumplestiltskin's attention. "Then why-"

Bae's lips quirked and Rumple saw mischief dancing through his son's eyes. Well, he'd learned a thing or two. He would never be a manipulator like his father - something that said father was very content with - but he knew well enough how the game was played to not get caught in the crossfire. They'd make use of them and, for Bae and Belle's way of thinking, if these two turned out to be legitimate, they might even lend them a hand if it didn't put Henry in danger. If they turned out to be anything less than legitimate, they'd be ready.

"So now that that's clear," Bae murmured, leaning forward so that he rested his elbows against his bent knees, "I think it's time you tell me a story, Pop."

"And what story would that be, son?"

"The one about you and this Jabberwocky."

Rumple stiffened where he sat, suddenly uncomfortable. "It's not-"

"Please don't, Papa," Bae pleaded softly. "I just need to know what's going on so I can keep my son safe. I know that you know how that feels."

"Don't try to manipulate me, Bae," his father growled.

"I'm not. It's called being honest. Try it sometime, even when it's not convenient for you."

Bae might as well have taken a swing at him for the way the pain spread at the barbed words. The younger man must have noticed, and his expression softened. "Sorry, Papa," he whispered. "I'm just worried about Henry, I shouldn't-"

"No need to apologize. You're right. You… well you usually are." He sighed, steeling himself to be honest when _very_ inconvenient. He'd done his best to avoid thinking about the Jabberwocky since they'd stepped foot into this crazy little world. Thinking about her would dredge up memories of all the fears she'd pulled from him. He could still feel her poking around inside his mind as if it had been some more recent time shy of the near two centuries that had passed. She'd purred Bae's name into his ear as the memories had overtaken him, plunging him back into that forest outside of their village, the winds screaming and the portal opening.

"Papa?"

Rumplestiltskin jerked out of it, blinking rapidly and his son grabbed his hand, steadying him. "I'm here. She feeds on fear, pulling it out of your mind and heart no matter how deep you bury it."

"I guess I'm not getting it. So she pulls your deepest fears up? Unpleasant, sure, but not exactly the deadly force you seemed to indicate."

His father hummed lowly. "I've seen men that would have faced a dragon without blinking fall under her spell, the panic taking over and their hearts just give. Don't underestimate her, Bae. She most certainly is deadly."

"So how do you know her? Did you work with her, against her, kind of in a diagonal sort of approach?"

Rumple felt himself chuckling despite the subject, his son's question complete with hand motions. "I think I was a challenge for her. One of the things I've gained with power, Bae, is the ability to push down my fears. They're there… very, very strong often enough, but she had to work to find them."

"She found them?"

"Oh yes."

The question hung there between them, Bae knowing better than to ask, but his curiosity was obvious. "I saw _you_, Bae," Rumple whispered after a moment. His son hadn't released his hand when he'd held it a moment before and he tightened his grip now, proving the fears false so that he might be able to force them in the open. "I saw you falling and I saw you die. A hundred different ways. I hadn't found you yet, of course, but I was looking. I was still in the earlier stages of planning the Dark Curse. The Seer had told me I would find you, but she'd been known to leave out pesky little details before, so…"

"You thought I might be dead."

"It was my greatest fear."

"Well, I'm here now, Pop. I'm not dead and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Rumplestiltskin raised his son's hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "I know," he acknowledged softly, but then stopped, perking.

"What is it, Papa?"

"Listen."

Bae strained his hearing. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly. Rouse everyone. She's here."

* * *

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six. **

Sleep didn't stay long when the threat of the Jabberwocky hung over them. Those that had drifted off stood, ready for whatever came their way and Rumplestiltskin's unnatural eyes watched the shadowy woods. "You can come out now, dearie," he called, voice masked with an almost playful tone. She'd be looking for that. She'd be looking for _all_ of it.

Alice and Cyrus were back-to-back now, weapons drawn and the snake staff hanging between them like a satchel from Cyrus' shoulder. Emma, not having bothered with a gun for some time now, had a blade in her hand. Belle shot him a questioning look from her place, but he refused to meet her eye. Jabber didn't know about Belle and that could save her life. She also didn't know about his grown son that stood just a few feet from him, tense and ready for a fight. There was no reason for her to know who either of them were, unless he failed to keep control of himself.

On the outside, Rumplestiltskin looked the perfect image of the Dark One with no ties to anything but his own power. His grin was set in place, eyes narrowed just enough to give off a rather menacing look. He knew the drill. He knew what was expected and what would have set anyone other than his current foe on edge. Even she wasn't as comfortable around him as she would have liked him to think. No, he saw through it well enough. She was a fool if his very presence hadn't made her a little nervous.

His grin spread when his magic found her darting in and out through the trees. She had no problem with teleportation here, but she'd been here her entire existence, as far as knew. He had a lock on her now, a sense, and she wasn't going to creep up on them. Most people feared the unknown, and a powerful enemy that couldn't be seen was sure to make everyone nervous. "No need to be shy, dear," he taunted, lifting both hands up to show they were empty. "I promise to play nice if you will."

Rumple knew she was there before the voice purred in his ear. "Where's the fun in that?"

He turned, his movements smooth. "Hello, Jabber. Been a while."

"It has indeed," she agreed and she was everything he remembered: beautiful and deadly and oh so invasive into his personal space. "You look well, Rumple."

He pushed down a small twitch at the familiar nickname rolling off her tongue. She'd picked it up the last time when she'd found his father in his memories. _Poor little Rumple. Abandoned by the only person that should have loved you. And now... Now you wonder if anyone could _ever_ love you. That there is something wrong with you that will always drive them away?_ Her findings so often came about as questions, but she knew the fears. She'd told him more than once that she could taste them.

"Something's a bit different with you though. You look a bit... leashed."

She pulled back, a hiss escaping her as she did so and his own grin widened. Point in his direction. "You _were_ involved in it, weren't you?"

"You shouldn't have tried to double cross me, Jabber. I _told_ you my mind was off limits and you just couldn't resist. Everything comes with a price, dearie. Double cross the Dark One and you'll be pinned to a ceiling for a couple centuries. Nice view at least?"

She snarled at him and a chuckle escaped. Point two. "I'll take that as a no."

Rumplestiltskin began to walk around her, two powerful beings sizing each other up. Her attention was entirely on him, leaving the others to stand and watch the exchange, and that's how he wanted it. He had gained the upper hand for now.

She was watching him in that unnerving way she had and he could feel her pressing against his walls in his mind. She was looking for a weakness, but hadn't found it yet. "You may hide behind that smile of yours, Rumplestiltskin, but your fears haven't lessened over the years. In fact, I'd say they've grown."

"You're slipping, Jabber. You can't get in and it's frustrating you." He turned, in her face now, and he saw the muscles twitch under stress. She was desperate. Desperate people make mistakes.

Their eyes remained locked for several more moments, she trying to get through and he not letting her. Finally she frowned, pulling away and she turned her gaze on his companions. "Quite a collection you travel with," she murmured thoughtfully, eyes roaming over each person. "So many fears. Hello, Alice. Yes, the rumours are true. Will's precious Anastasia is dead. Jafar wanted to make sure that heart of his was still working. Thank you so much for that bit of information. It was most useful."

The brunette went pale, green eyes widening and this brought a smile to the Jabberwocky's face. "And the genie. You knew he was a genie, didn't you, Rumple? So many consequences to your actions. Can you truly save your brothers?" Her smile broadened as she reached up and touched his face, forcing him to look into his eyes. "And protect your precious love as well? Not likely."

Rumple watched her, not moving from his spot. So far she was just making them uncomfortable. It hadn't gotten dangerous yet, and he wasn't willing to tip his hand as she began to step towards his family. She had no reason to think they were any different than their new companions, and he couldn't risk giving that away. No reason to make them any more nervous than they already were.

He tensed as she approached Belle, but something else caught Jabber's attention and she turned her sharp gaze on the woman next to her. "Oh, so you're the one that's made him so afraid," the Jabberwocky said as she walked behind Emma, her hand playing with blonde locks. To her credit, Emma didn't move, but she looked ready to take a swing at her first chance. "Poor little Henry, so afraid of losing his family. He cried. Isn't that a shame? You made your little boy cry. We shouldn't be surprised though, should we? After all," she purred into her ear, "you spent plenty of nights crying over your own parents, didn't you?"

Emma froze, eyes wide.

"Leave her alone," Bae growled, his sword now at her neck.

Jabby laughed, turning even as it nicked her. Magic lept out from the wound, immediately closing it and she leaned forward into Baelfire's face. "Hello there."

"I've seen a lot of crazy in my life and you're up there, but I've seen worse. You'll have to do worse than that to scare me."

"Is that a challenge?" She leaned in, one hand in his hair and she spoke in his ear. "You're already afraid. Your fear smells familiar. Have we met?" He tried to pull away and her fingers dug in, holding him in place. "You're good. Almost as good as he is at hiding it. That must mean you have something very interesting beneath those layers."

Bae's dark eyes flickered over to his father very briefly at the reference to him and Rumple weighed the options. He knew well enough that if anyone could stand up to her probing it was Baelfire, but his son couldn't stand up against it very long. She would know shortly just who he was.

She whirled on him, her eyes fixated on him even though she retained her grip on Bae. "There." Rumplestiltskin felt the crack in his defences. Her eyes grew wide and a smile tilted her lips before she used her particular brand of magic to shatter the wall and he felt his knees threaten to give way even as she looked back at her captive. "You found him," she breathed.

"Neal!" Emma called out and the Jabberwocky chuckled.

"Not 'Neal', is it? Hello little Baelfire. All grown up are we? The source of the Dark One's greatest fear, right here in Wonderland." She closed her eyes and Bae's own grew wide as she spoke. "So brave, but so fearful too. Fearful of… being abandoned? Of being left behind? That feeling washes over you, doesn't it? Pulling you down and you can't breathe as the portal swallows you up and your father just… let's go. Your hand wouldn't have slipped if he hadn't let go and you know it, don't you? He _meant_ to release you. But he's not the only one, is he? Like father, like son. You're both so very good at being abandoned. People just toss you aside."

"_Enough_," Rumple hissed and his hand was around her throat before she could react.

"Oh, and _you_," she laughed, even as he slammed her down to the ground. "There it is. I'd forgotten how _deep_ yours goes." Their eyes met and she spoke around the pressure as if it didn't bother her in the slightest. "You finally found him but your fear of losing him again is greater than ever. Can't you see it, Rumple? He just slips away, the blood pooling beneath him and the vacant sort of stare in his dead eyes? You know the image. It's one that haunts your dreams so often that you're not sure if it's a vision or your own terrible, dark imagination. And every time you know deep down that you're the one that caused it. Your precious boy is dead because of _you_."

The fury washed out of him and he sat back, numbness taking its place as the words struck harder than any blow. He'd seen the very image that she had pulled from him and he was caught up in it now. If he opened his eyes reality would strike and he'd find Baelfire dead on the grass, staring vacantly up towards the treetops and it would be his fault. All his fault.

"This is insane," Emma growled and lunged, driving her sword through the Jabberwocky as the woman had begun to stand.

"Same mistake, every time," she answered. "You people don't understand what immortal really means, do you? Shall we go over all the reasons why you turned him down?"

Emma turned the blade inside of her. "That's got to sting even a little."

"Not really." She pulled herself off of it without any effort at all and turned to Rumplestiltskin who was still seated on the forest floor, her spell still working its way through his mind and ripping at it. "You want the boy?"

This brought his gaze up to her.

"Jafar is willing to make a deal. You know you can't rescue him. I've shown how easily I can dismantle your rather pathetic little group here. If you want your grandson - oh yes, I know - alive and well, you'll take his offer. He'll be expecting you at first light." She turned as if to leave, but stopped, her gaze sharp. "Take the deal, Rumple. It's the only way your fears don't play out here in Wonderland."

* * *

Henry had dozed off after the last terrible round of nightmare-bringing fear that the Jabberwocky had introduced him to. At least the sleep had been somewhat restful, exhaustion playing a part in keeping his dreams quiet and calm. Will hadn't been eager to talk and so there'd been little else do as they sat there. He couldn't risk dwelling on the terrible things she had said or that she'd made him see.

He perked now as the crashing footsteps resounded through the dungeon. Jafar - that's what Will had called him - looked ready to kill him as he moved past the glass coffin and with a flick of his hand the gate that kept him in the cell flew up and he nearly fell over with the haste in which it moved. The teen hadn't had time to pick himself up when his captor reached down and took hold of the front of his shirt, pulling him off his feet. "You thought you could hide that, did you?"

"Jafar, he's no good to us dead," the Jabberwocky said from behind him, slinking around into view.

"He's no good to us if the Dark One _knows_ he's dead," Jafar countered and shook Henry. "Answer me, boy. How long did you think you could hide your relation?"

Henry wrapped his hands around the man's wrist so that he wasn't hanging so badly. His dad or his grandpa would have had a quick comeback about the man's intelligence and how long it'd taken him to come to the conclusion, but that wouldn't do him any good right now. Instead he used the way he was dangling to his advantage, kicking out and Jafar's growl of irritation turned into a hiss of pain before he dropped him.

"Not so fast, little one," the Jabberwocky called and he felt every muscle in him freeze. Her hand teased his hair as she leaned down. "Your grandpa would be quite cross if he found you missing tomorrow morning."

"They're going to come and you're going to regret it," he managed, fighting back the rising fear that her voice brought. He wouldn't give into it. He wouldn't let it control him.

"We're counting on them coming, boy," Jafar answered, brushing off his robes and stalking closer. "Your grandfather is known throughout many lands for his power and his habit of making deals when it suits him. I'd say you're quite the prize."

"He won't have to take your deal," the teen bit out, struggling again even though the Jabberwocky had an iron grip on his shoulder. "They'll come for me and you'll lose. Good always wins."

Jabber snorted. "You really aren't very well acquainted with Rumplestiltskin, are you, boy? He's many things, but he's hardly _good_."

"Better than you."

She shrugged, pushing him roughly back towards the cell and the gate came crashing down. "He'll come," she directed at Jafar. "I've never tasted fear stronger in anyone else than Rumplestiltskin holds for his family. This boy is more valuable than you could have hoped for. Valuable enough, perhaps, to warrant the payment for the Vorpal Blade."

"Patience, Jabberwocky. You deliver the Dark One to me and you've earned your freedom. Not until then." He turned, the fury that had accompanied in also him followed him out.

She let out a vicious sound once he was clear of the room and Henry heard Will chuckle.

"Sucks to be on his bad side, don't it?"

The Jabberwocky turned on him and Henry could see the gleam in her eye that meant she was about to unleash. "Hey," he called, gaining her attention again. "Are you in trouble? If Jafar's controlling you, my family can help. That's kinda what they do."

"You think your grandfather would help me?"

"Sure, if you're helping me. He'd see that as even enough."

A low sound came from her and Henry thought it might have been a laugh. She was at the gate so fast that she must have teleported and pressed her face against it, long fingers wrapped around the bars and she smiled. "_Even_," she repeated. "Two hundred years I rotted in that place and now I'm a slave to that damn blade. The Dark One and I won't be _even_ until he's dead."

* * *

"Rumple?"

He should answer her. He really should answer her, he knew, but he just couldn't bring himself to. His breathing had evened out a bit more but tremors shook his entire body at times and no spell he cast could make them stop. His mind whirled, trying to remind himself that Bae wasn't dead. Bae was right there with him. He just had to open his eyes to see him, but every time that he tried the fear of what he would see overwhelmed him.

"Rumple, please look at me," Belle begged softly and he could feel her hands on his face, brushing back his hair and her thumb running over one sharp cheekbone. "Please. Just open your eyes."

He started to. He'd meant to, anyway, but instead he just began to shake again, the image playing out over and over again.

"That's all you'll see if you keep them closed," she whispered, her voice soothing. He heard her shift and felt her lips pressed against his. "Bae's not hurt, Rumple."

He didn't want to look. He couldn't bear to see the blood or the vacant expression in those dark eyes. He was sure he'd follow his son as his heart shattered.

"Bae, could you-?"

"Yeah," came a rough voice that sounded so much like his son's. It was so hard to tell what was real and what had been put there by the Jabberwocky. Put there… that was a way to say it. It wasn't that she put it there, it's that she _found_ it there. The fears were all his own, right down to the way he froze with them. The way that he'd frozen as the portal opened up and swallowed his son and the way-

"Papa?"

"How's Emma doing?"

"She's… shaken. Just like the rest of us. Can you go sit with her? I'll stay here with him for a few minutes."

"Sure."

"Papa, can you look at me, please?"

"Bae?"

"Yeah, Papa. Right here. You're… kind of freaking us out."

Dark eyes blinked open finally, coming to focus on a very whole Baelfire kneeling next to him. He looked like a man that had had the Jabberwocky in his mind, though, with a haunted sort of expression still ghosting over his features and Rumplestiltskin knew that the memories she'd pulled from him were still balanced at the front of his thoughts. "Bae?"

"Right here. You okay?"

It felt like resurfacing out of one of his nastier nightmares. What was real and was was fear slowly split and he could feel the tremors subsiding. Bae reached a hand out to him and Rumple grasped it, pulling him fully into an embrace that his son returned readily. They sat there for a moment in the dark forest.

"So, you weren't exaggerating about her."

"No."

"You okay?"

"I think so. Getting there. You?"

"Just stared at all my worst fears in the face in about a five minute time span. Just great."

"Emma?"

"Same, I think," Bae murmured, glancing over at his would-be fiance. "I haven't gotten her to tell me what she saw yet, but maybe Belle will have more luck."

"That's likely. She didn't get to Belle, did she?"

"No, she's safe. She spotted Emma and me before she got to Belle."

Rumple nodded slowly, still gathering himself. He had Bae's hand in a deathgrip, the reminder constant. The fears were not real. Baelfire was here and he was safe.

A snarling sound out of Emma startled both men and the blonde was standing, throwing her hands in the air as if she'd come out of a stupor. Belle was still sitting where they had both been and blinked up at her. Hazel eyes turned on them. "What the hell is that thing? We have to go, now. Henry's in there with her and she's doing who knows what to him."

"Jafar will be expecting us earlier than Jabber said," Alice said from her place, making the first sound from either she or Cyrus since the Jabberwocky had left.

"Fine," Emma snapped. "Let him be ready. It doesn't mean I'm not going after my son."

* * *

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven. **

He'd wanted her to stay behind. It was an absurd request and they both knew it, even as he'd made it. The fact that it had been made out of his love for her, out if wishing to keep her safe, did ease the blow to her pride. She'd struck it down all the same. "I will not sit by and do nothing," Belle had told him firmly. "Anyway, what makes you think that I'd be any safer sitting alone in the woods and just hoping that all of you get out alive?"

Rumple had relented at that, the logic something he'd chosen to ignore rather than not having thought of it at all. She knew this Jabberwocky had shaken him deeply and in ways he would not admit to quickly. He was doing what he so often did when he felt that things were spinning out of his control: taking a firmer grip and preparing for the worst. He was a planner, her Rumple, and almost always had things worked out well in advance. He had latched onto the fact that the Jabberwocky had not found Belle's place in all of this yet and she could see the fear growing there, which they both knew would only hasten The Jabberwocky's understanding.

When she'd found Baelfire, it was because the fears between father and son had echoed each other. So, as far as Belle could see, she just needed to keep her own fears in check and Rumple's thick barriers would do the rest.

She glanced over to him, eyes watching him move from where he walk away from her - in his mind, keeping her safe. Even beneath the steady mask of the Dark One he wore, she could see the signs of strain in the way he moved, the taught and very purposeful pull of his shoulders back so that they didn't droop, and the deeper lines in his face. They were signs she'd learned to tell during her time with him in the Dark Castle before his and Regina's curse and few others would see them. Bae might, if he looked, but the younger man appeared to be fighting his own demons and trying to take on Emma's as well, the best he could. Not that Rumple would accept help right now from anyone, not with so many eyes on him. Not with a dangerous and keen enemy looming.

Alice and Cyrus had come clean about the details of what was happening on their end. Yes, Cyrus was a former genie who had been freed by a wish made by one Will Scarlet who had taken his place in the bottle. That was the man that they hoped to rescue. Jafar, the man holding him, was a powerful sorcerer that was trying to defy the laws of magic by shattering them, using three genies he'd collected to cast a powerful spell. He needed a second sorcerer, though, and had recently lost his option for that.

"He can't take the deal, no matter what," Alice said as she fell into step with Belle.

The elder woman didn't startle, but instead just quirked an eyebrow. "And what would that deal be?"

"I think you know. Jafar wants the Dark One to help him break the laws of magic."

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that."

Alice blinked at her. "I don't think you realize how serious this is."

"I do," Belle answered, risking a glance at her love. "I just know Rumple as well. I know that people see him as some evil beast willing to do anything to get what he wants, but he does have a few rules that I've never seen him break. He stands by the idea that all magic comes with a price and that the rules of magic are there for a reason. He'll find a way around making that sort of deal with Jafar and still get Henry back."

"Jafar is a worthy enough foe. The woman that the Jabberwocky said he'd killed had once been his partner. He won't hesitate to harm the boy."

Belle couldn't help but smile. "I have faith in Rumple."

Alice stared at her as they walked. "You love him. That's who you are to him. Your his True Love."

Belle didn't have time to answer as Cyrus hissed a warning and they all ducked down, guards passing by where they had been about to walk. She saw Bae make sure his father ducked with them, holding him back from simply turning them into dust.

He was balanced on a dangerous edge right now, and she supposed that those that didn't know him would have a right to worry. It wasn't his world that hung in the balance, though she wondered that if this sorcerer gained the power he sought if he would, in time, cross over to their world. Rumple had always taught her there was a price and she had no reason to disbelieve that after everything she'd seen. What would the price of shattering the laws of magic be, even if it was for one sorcerer?

"We're going through that shaft here," Cyrus was saying in a low voice. "It leads down to the tunnels and we can get into the holding cells. That's most likely where they'll be keeping the boy."

He didn't have to say anything further for the small rescue party to move.

* * *

Henry had waited until he was sure that they were alone in the dungeons before he stood, pressing up against the bars to his cell and straining his ears just to make sure. Definitely alone, with the exception of Will who sat quietly with his back to the bars, refusing to look at his dead love. Henry didn't blame him, but if he was going to get out, he wasn't going to leave anyone behind. Will had told him that there was usually another prisoner - an old man - but they'd moved him elsewhere and the teen hadn't laid eyes on him since being brought in.

"Hey? Will?" he whispered, his voice louder than he really wanted it to be.

"What?"

"You want to get out?"

This seemed to catch the elder man's attention and he turned, brows knit in question and Henry grinned and held up a key. "Jafar was so mad that I hadn't told him about my grandpa that he never even knew I took it."

"You little sneak… Where'd you learn to do that?"

"It's amazing what you can learn from stories. Especially ones about your grandma being a thief. You can learn a _lot_ from those." He felt the front of the cage for the keyhole and slipped it in after a couple of tries, turned it, and received a satisfying clink for his efforts as it opened. He stepped out, listening intently for half a moment before darting over to Will's side and opened it as well.

"Smart kid."

"So what is Jafar after anyway?"

"He's trying to break the laws of magic."

Henry's eyes widened. "He can't!"

"Well, he's going to if he gets your grandpa in on it. You know, I've heard of the Dark One in passing before, but who is he?"

"You're from Storybrooke, right? Did you ever go into Mr. Gold's pawn shop?"

"Sure. Nicked a couple of nice things from there once."

Dark eyes widened a bit more. "You stole from my grandpa's shop?"

"Woh. Gold's your grandpa… The Dark One. That makes sense. That makes so much bloody sense."

Henry shrugged. "I won't tell him it was you if you won't."

"It's been a few years. Didn't even remember who I was and he probably didn't even miss it."

"Oh, trust me, if it went missing, he knew."

They were passing by the glass coffin now and Will stopped, eyes fixed on the woman inside. Henry peered in as well. She was beautiful with her blonde hair and red dress. She looked like she was simply sleeping and a thought struck him. "Maybe it's just a sleeping curse? If we open it up, you can't wake her."

Will shook his head. "No. I saw him kill her. She's gone."

He lingered a moment more, fingers ghosting over the glass and Henry could feel the pain radiating off of him. He remembered when his mom had thought his dad was dead just before he'd been hauled off to Neverland and the pain that had radiated off of her or those few but terrible times that Regina had mentioned her lost love or Robin his late wife. There was something about losing one's True Love that drove people mad at times and the teen wondered how Will was holding up this well.

"People don't come back from the dead," the Knave of Hearts whispered as he turned to leave.

Henry nodded, knowing there was nothing to be done even as they wound through the halls. That was one of the first lessons he'd learned: the laws of magic. His grandpa had been very firm on the belief that they were there for a reason. "Some rules can be bent. Most should, from time to time, but not these. They can't be broken without dire consequences. It's a price that no one should be _willing_ to pay." There had been no teasing sound to his voice and his grandpa's dark eyes had been very serious. He'd stopped the tinkering that he often did even while teaching his grandson and Henry had known it was important. With all the power he possessed, even as the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin wasn't willing to try to manipulate those rules.

But desperate people did desperate things. That was another lesson his grandfather had taught him when he had finally told him the story of how he had taken on his curse - though Henry thought that he might have left some details out. Why did everyone think he was such a child? - and Will had a desperate sort of look in his eyes now. As they rounded another corner, the elder man seeming to know where he was going, Henry stopped. "Jafar's trying to break the laws of magic," he murmured. "One of those laws is that you can't bring people back from the dead."

Will stopped dead in his tracks, his entire posture rigid. "Is it?"

"Yeah, it is," Henry acknowledged slowly and watched the Knave deflate.

"Bloody hell… I can't do this. There's a lot of things I can do, but handed a kid over to a crazy man is too much." He turned to the teen. "He was going to let me go if I promised to bring him back this snake stick of his so he could cast the spell, but then you came along and his plans changed. He let you get that key, kid. He knows you're running."

"Where did he tell you to take me?"

"The throne room. That's where he's planning to cast the thing once the Dark One gets here."

"My grandpa won't cast it. That's one thing he won't do."

"Even if it's that or your life?"

Henry paused, not sure of the answer. "We can't make him make that choice. Come on."

"You trust me? Even after I was about to hand you over to Jafar?"

"You were trying to save your True Love. I can't blame you for that, but I don't want you to get hurt for it either."

Will managed a quirk of his lips that might have been a very small smile. "Alright. Let's get you home then."

* * *

"It's empty."

Emma's voice seemed to speak for all of them once they reached the dungeon. Not a soul was in sight, only a corpse of a beautiful woman in red that seemed to catch Alice and Cyrus' attention. They knew her, but Rumplestiltskin couldn't quite bring himself to give a damn about the dead girl. He felt the cold chill that meant that the Jabberwocky already knew that they were there and he lifted his head a little higher, eyes scanning and magic reaching where his vision couldn't. It wrapped its way down the corridors, making its way around every turn.

"They knew we were coming," Bae growled as he slammed the hilt of his cutlass against the bars, rattling them so that they echoed loudly through the open middle.

"We knew it was a possibility," Belle murmured, moving to the open space, skilled eyes searching for any clues she could find.

"He ran," Rumple murmured, half lost in his spell.

"Ran?" Emma echoed, suddenly right next to him. "Where? Can you find him?"

"Patience, dearie. I'm…" He stopped, his unnatural eyes slowly opening and fixating on one of the corridors. She was there, watching them from the shadows, and she was bringing more with her than her pretty face and terrible personality. No, she had with her something very familiar.

"Papa, what is it?" Bae murmured.

"Someone's taken the Jabberwocky off her leash."

A laugh echoed through the hallway and there was a clanking of steel against the metal bars along one side. Each hit made Rumplestiltskin want to cringe. He hadn't been fool enough to fight her head on the last time, so it hadn't been his hand that had gripped the Vorpal Blade when she'd been run through with it, but he might not have a choice in this go around. Her boots tapped the stones and she rounded the corner, the blade in her hand and a wild look in her dark eyes. Her smile was dangerous and he knew that all had most certainly _not_ been forgiven for his part in her holding. She was free and it didn't matter what Jafar wanted out of him or any of the others.

"Looks like someone has her own agenda," Rumple said, his voice light in contrast to the knot that had formed in his chest.

The smile widened, if possible, and she twirled the long blade. "Jafar promised me my freedom when he had his way to cast his spell and then you just fell right into our laps."

"I'm not casting any spell for him, Jabber. I just want the boy."

"Who would have thought that the Dark One would be such a family man? _I just want the boy_," she mocked and flashed so that she was standing nose-to-nose with him, her breath hot against his face. "I told you he'd make a deal."

"Oh-ho? Will he now? I propose a new deal. I let the both of you live as payment for Henry's safe return. It's more than either of you deserve at this point. I'm feeling generous."

"How about I return the last favour you so _generously_ provided me with?"

Rumplestiltskin sidestepped the swing, his magic making him quicker than any human should have been. He was so close to having a hand on how teleportation worked in Wonderland, but he hadn't quite grasped the last piece that he needed for it. He dodged another blow and shot a look at his son. "Bae, take the others. Find Henry."

"I'm not leaving you here."

The Dark One flashed his only child a grin, one hand dancing in the air and pulling a sword from nothing. "I'm not without defence. Go. Your son needs you."

Baelfire hesitated only a moment as the blade his father was now using connected with the Vorpal Blade and the sound echoed.

"He's a match for her, we're not," Cyrus said. "We'll only be in the way."

Bae let out a frustrated sound as he, Emma, Belle, and their companions took off down the corridor.

"Well, at least you won't have to see the life leave his eyes," Jabber said with a smile and Rumple pushed back hard. "Oh, look at this. When did you learn to play with a sword?"

"I know a great many things. I just prefer not to deal with them if it's not necessary."

"Until someone forces your hand, of course."

"Until I choose. Unlike you, Jabber, no one controls me."

She let out a snarl as she threw herself into him, nearly knocking him off balance and his ankle twinged at the angle he stepped back on it at. The spells he'd wrapped himself in since stepping foot into Wonderland were simple enough, not pulling from too much power, but the fact that he'd been on his bad ankle all day and was putting it through the wringer now was starting to catch up. As long as he was careful, he could get through this, but a few badly placed steps might give him away.

"I've always been impressed with your ability to rebuild your walls, Rumple. Most men that I rip into never can come out of it, much less take just a few hours to put their mental states back into place. But you… You're so accustomed to your fears, aren't you? You've lived with them so long and they almost _always_ come true. You feared that you'd become just like your father and you let your only son fall through a portal that could have very easily have been his death. You became a coward by running from war just like-"

"You need new material, Jabber," Rumple snapped. "I didn't run. Not from anything, anyway. _To_ someone though, yeah. I'll always run to my boy."

"Not if you're dead."

"You need me alive."

The Jabberwocky chuckled, her eyes flashing dangerously. "Jafar does, but _I_ don't."

Rumplestiltskin would have been impressed with the strength she showed as she slammed the Vorpal Blade into his own. Would have been, if he hadn't realized the game was indeed close to its end. It was time to end her before she ended him.

But that was the problem, wasn't it? She retained her immortality while he'd given his up. He'd given it up so that he could manipulate his curse and ensure the safety of his family. It had been worth the price, he reminded himself for the thousandth time since he'd made the choice. The limits, the human shell that the darkness was contained in, it was all worth it to make sure his family was happy and healthy and whole. He'd give anything for it.

It was that magic - that dark, wonderful magic - that warned him of the strike and he flashed out of existence, finally taking hold of the ability he knew he should have. A laugh left him as he reappeared a few feet away, but she followed and he felt her slam him back against the stones. He hit hard, his head connecting solidly and the whole room pulsed.

"There," she purred in his ear as she nearly floated back to the ground. "I may not _need_ you alive now, but it doesn't hurt to have someone like Jafar on your side in the end. You can just wait there for a few minutes, can't you, Rumple? After all, you strung me up for two centuries. Stings a bit, doesn't it?"

It suddenly occurred to him that his feet weren't touching the ground. He looked down to see the blade buried deep in his middle, holding him up. The realization that he could breathe hit full force and he tried to drag a deep enough breath in, the pain finally starting to catch up with him.

Jabber must have realized something was wrong because her triumphant smile faded and Rumplestiltskin saw his hands - the ones that were gripping the hilt of the blade like he could do anything about it from this angle - melt back into very human hands. The scales faded away and the claws receded and he found her in his face, that tortured look of hers that she wore when she reached deeply into someone's mind crossing her face. "What have you done?" she whispered.

Rumplestiltskin tried to answer her, but he couldn't find the breath as he felt blood rising in his throat and he managed a weak cough at best. If he'd never given it up, if he hadn't sacrificed it, he would have merely been irritated now. The Vorpal Blade was meant to hold a dark creature in place, but it was plenty sharp on its own, piercing through skin and muscle and tissue rather nicely. Most dark creatures such as he and the Jabberwocky had long since moved past that pesky existence known as mortality.

"You gave it up," she managed, her voice breathy. "Why?"

"To save… my family," he managed, coughing and he could taste blood.

She smiled, but there was no more triumph there. Perhaps she hadn't meant to kill him at all. Perhaps she'd just wanted him to be held as she had been held, enthralled by another. "And now you'll die for them, Rumplestiltskin, but they'll die too. Jafar will never let them live. The game is over."

* * *

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight. **

Belle couldn't crush the overwhelming desire to turn back. She knew what she should think: Rumple was more than capable of handling himself and a great many things thrown at him and, when it came down to it, Cyrus had been right. She and the others were no match for the Jabberwocky. They wouldn't be a match for Jafar, either, unless they attacked together and they needed as many as they could to offset that particular danger and save those that they were trying to save. Going back would only ensure that Rumple was distracted, whether it was she or Bae, and in turn, he would eventually make a wrong step.

_This time you have someone you care about. This time you have a weakness._

Regina's words from long ago sent a shiver up Belle's spine and she stopped, the others finally slowing just in front of her. Emma looked ready to drag her along if she had to, but Bae recognized the look in her eyes. "What is it?" he asked.

Belle chewed on her bottom lip, clear eyes shifting her gaze from him to Alice and Cyrus. "She won't hurt him, right? Jafar needs him alive for something?"

"She won't hurt him with that blade," Alice promised. "That's the Vorpal Blade."

"You mean the one designed to hold creatures and beings of great darkness in place?"

"That's the one. The Dark One can't be killed, right, so… What is it?"

Belle knew the colour had drained from her face. She could feel it, and Bae wore the same expression. "I have to go back."

Her love's son looked torn and she offered him a strained smile. "I have to go, but you have to find Henry. We'll meet back when everyone's safe."

"Alice," Cyrus managed, "I know that look. You can't-"

"I can, and I should. Belle, I'm coming with you. Cyrus will get the others to Henry and Will and you and I can help Rumplestiltskin with the Jabberwocky if you think he needs it."

Belle nodded, grateful for the help she hadn't expected. The younger woman and she set off in a near sprint back the where they'd come from and she could feel the question hanging between them. This girl was risking her own safety on what she was sure to think was only a hunch. A lover's worry. Belle knew Rumple's general distrust of... well, everyone, but this was something that needed to be shared. Belle was sure of it.

"Rumple's not immortal," she said in a rush.

"But he's the Dark One, isn't he?"

"Yes...and no. It's complicated. He manipulated his curse to save us when a terrible witch took control of his dagger. The price he paid was his immortality."

The weight of the situation became apparent and Belle was glad she'd told her. Trust was needed between them if they'd help each other get out of this alive. She breathed a sigh, but as they rounded the corner she found that she couldn't find her breath at all. It was the only thing that kept his name from tearing from her throat.

Alice made a small sound of horror from her side, but kept mostly quiet as well, even as the Jabberwocky moved enough to give them a clearer view if a very human Rumplestiltskin. He was pinned to the wall by the blade, pain etched into every line of his face and the illusion he'd been wearing entirely washed away. He was speaking, voice halted, but at least he was conscious. If he was conscious he could use his magic to heal himself. If they could pull him down at any rate.

"What have you done?" a voice roared and Alice pulled Belle further back around the corner, the two women pressed against the stone and the brunette mouthed the name _Jafar_.

The Jabberwocky let out a frustrated howl in response. She hadn't been expecting the glamour to fade away. She'd been relying on this working out just so. Belle hated to think about it, but as long as they all got out of this alive Rumple would be highly entertained by the frustration he'd caused her.

"He's useless to me dead," Jafar snapped.

"Useless to you alive too, dearie," Rumple rasped. "I'm not casting your damn spell for you."

"Even with your grandson in my possession?"

Belle pressed hard against the stone, straining to see. Even though she couldn't quite move close enough to see around the corner she could hear the smile that her love was wearing as he spoke. His voice was strained, but a breathless chuckle accompanied it. "Perhaps if he were actually _in_ your grasp... you might have a card to play. But he is, afterall, my grandson. That makes him more clever... than you could hope to be. Tell me, how does it feel to be outwitted by a boy?"

There was a pause before a pain filled cry was cut short by the sound of Rumplestiltskin crashing to the floor. Alice's eyes grew wide and Belle pushed down her own fear. He'd driven Jafar to pulling the blade from him. It was the only way he'd have even a chance to heal the wound. That was if he didn't bleed out first. They had to get to him before that happened.

Belle motioned and Alice nodded, slipping silently to the opposite corner while Jafar and Jabber's backs were turned. They had to act fast and there was no time for fear, otherwise the Jabberwocky would smell them coming, no matter how distracted she might be.

* * *

"You do actually know the way out, right?"

Will Scarlet came to a halt at the question, turning to look at the teen that had posed it. Henry was sure he knew the answer as soon as their eyes met and a sigh escaped him. He'd hoped that the elder man - a thief by trade, he had thought - would have always had an exit plan. Robin did, afterall. He never went into a closed space without knowing his out in case he needed it. Apparently all thieves were not the same.

"It's... Well... Somewhere. There has to be an exit somewhere this way."

"You don't, do you?"

"Directions have never really been my thing," Will admitted.

"It's okay. We just have to get our bearings. I think we've been going around in circles."

"Bloody hell..."

"No, no. It's okay. Look: we've passed that statue a couple times now, but not that one there. We haven't been that way yet."

Will looked hesitant at first, but slowly nodded. "Your grandpa may not do much forgiving if he finds out all I did was get you more lost."

Henry grinned at this. "I don't know what you're talking about. You've definitely been more help than the Dormouse was."

"You went to the Dormouse for help?"

"First time in Wonderland. How was I supposed to know?"

"It's a narcoleptic rodent. How did you not?" He stopped, motioning for Henry to remain quiet and the serious expression that accompanied it caused the teen to nod his acceptance

They waited, the muted footsteps that the Knave had heard drawing closer and he stepped between Henry and the intruders. "Stay back," Will whispered, almost in the same moment that the first owner of the footsteps rounded the corner.

"Dad!" Henry called and Will froze. The teen launched himself into his father's arms and Bae pulled him off his feet into a hug. As soon as he was released Emma had her arms around him.

"New rule, kid. Gold's castle is the same as the shop: don't touch anything if you aren't two hundred percent sure what it does."

"Don't hop through any portals. Got it," Henry answered with a grin. It faded as he realized that the rescue party was missing members. "Where're Grandpa and Belle?"

"Taking care of the Jabberwocky," Emma said and Henry tried not to shudder visibly.

"Just them?" he asked carefully. His grandpa was the strongest sorcerer in the Enchanted Forest, but facing a woman that could dredge up his deepest fears did not seem like a fair fight to Henry. Not that evil ever fought fair.

"C'mon, have some faith in your grandpa," Bae said with a grin that his son knew was forced. His dad was worried too, and it wasn't for a lack of faith in Rumplestiltskin's abilities.

"Alice is with them as well."

Will perked at this. "Well you two are right idiots for coming here, Cyrus. Jafar's going to use the Dark One to cast his curse."

"We know. We have to stop him."

"My dad's stubborn. Without Henry Jafar's not going to have anything to deal with."

Henry looked at his dad. "Except Belle."

Bae sighed. "Except Belle. And she went back for him."

"I'm not leaving you to go back there alone," Emma snapped, reading the look in his eyes.

"So what, we take Henry back into the dungeon?" Bae nearly growled back.

"It's not like I'm any safer in the hall," the teen countered, gaining both his parents' attentions. "And it's not like we leave people behind, so why are we even fighting over this?"

"I hate thirteen year old logic," Emma groused. "Especially when he's right."

* * *

There were many times that Rumplestiltskin felt people were easier to read than the future, even with his Sight. It wasn't that people were any less jumbled than the pieces of the puzzle that was the future - in fact, he was quite certain that people's inability to make a decision and stick with it was likely the reason behind the future being so difficult to read in the first place - but they did have their consistencies. Like Jafar. This man reminded the Dark One of many that would come before him and likely many after, as long as he got out of this alive. He was desperate for power, likely someone that felt he'd been abused throughout his life, and was willing to do anything to achieve it. He was driven and intelligent, likely a master of working those around him with the power he'd obtained, and he had been fool enough to think that Rumplestiltskin would fall prey to the same.

The fury that rolled off of him was thick, the desperation only barely concealed beneath it. Well, concealed for someone that was not as accustomed to recognizing a desperate soul as Rumplestiltskin was. He felt it, he knew it, and he'd use it to his advantage. The man hadn't expected a quip from the pinned and bleeding Dark One. Hell, Rumple knew he probably looked half dead to anyone in the room. Even Jabber looked uncomfortable and he knew he was on borrowed time, but borrowed time was still time.

If he'd run across Jafar in any other setting, he might have been at least passively fascinated with him, but even the shortness of breath couldn't keep a snarl from rising in his throat at the mention of how he'd kept his grandson captive. He bit it back before it made its way out and instead flashed an impish smile. The man's intelligence, that was where to hit him and he used it, breath coming in gasps by the time he finished and he watched for a sign that he'd pushed over the ledge. He needed him over the ledge. He needed him to pull the damn blade from him so that he could have a hope of seeing his family again. If he didn't, it didn't matter how powerful his magic ran, the blade would keep him from healing the wound and he'd die pinned to the wall like a bug in one of Henry's science projects growing up. He was sure that if he had to go it would be in something much more than all of this.

Jafar leaned in, hand gripping the hilt and Rumplestiltskin's entire body went rigid with pain. He felt the room shift and he had to remind himself that his feet weren't touching the floor. There was no way to lose his balance like this. He had to stay conscious. That was the key. Unconsciousness meant certain death. He had to be able to tell his magic to save him, but he couldn't do that until this _idiot_ released him. He felt another small twist of the sword and his breath hitched. "Be thankful," Jafar said so lowly that only he could hear, "that you are useful, Dark One, and I will most certainly make use of you."

The pull was sudden and Rumplestiltskin heard his own scream echoing off of the stones of the dungeon. He couldn't focus through it, he realized as he collapsed fully to the floor, legs not holding him even as his feet connected with the ground. He found himself curled on his side, struggling to pull each breath in and he felt dangerously close to and edge, but his pain-wracked mind couldn't quite figure out what edge that was.

It wasn't his spell that eased it, but as soon as it cleared even a little his own magic wrapped around him, healing and knitting him back together. Well this was going to be a slow process.

Footsteps sounded and a crisp voice said, "M'lord, the boy has been spotted. He and the others are being pursued now."

Rumple shifted, regretting the movement instantly as a strained moan made its way from him. He hadn't even managed to blink his eyes open since falling, but now he forced himself to, finding Jafar's boots directly in his line of sight, and just beyond was a blade with an uncomfortable amount of blood staining it.

"Make yourself useful, Jabber, and see that he doesn't die."

The footsteps retreated and the Jabberwocky squatted in front of him so that he could look at her without too much trouble. "Should have made that deal, Rumple," she offered with a shrug.

He knew better than to think she was so confident in her place with Jafar. No, this was a desperate move, but the fact that he'd left behind the blade in his rush wouldn't be lost on her long. Nor would the young lady trying to cross the hall to dive to the other side. How obvious could she be?

Jabber turned, eyes flashing in the darkness and she flickered out of existence, after her prey. "Hello, Alice," he could hear her greet from around the corner. He'd thought the girl was more clever than that, and after a moment Rumple realized he was right as Belle inched around the opposite corner, boots silent against the stone and she motioned for him to be quiet. He managed a smile, but not much more.

Belle looked perfectly miserable over the fact that she couldn't go directly to him. This had obviously been a quickly developed plan, but if they pulled it off, he had no complaints.

"Hello… Belle, is it?" the Jabberwocky purred from behind her just as the the princess' fingers touched the Vorpal Blade. She took hold of it, moving quicker than perhaps Jabber expected, but not quick enough to catch her when she swung it around. "Oh? Come to rescue the Dark One?" she laughed, not staying still long enough for Belle to see her.

"Come out and face me! Or are you the one that's afraid?"

"Oh no, but you are. Afraid of knowing what I did with your new friend and of what I'll do to the old ones. Afraid of… what I'll do to the one you… love?"

Belle froze, eyes wide.

"And who might that be?" Jabber asked, suddenly directly behind her.

"Belle!" Rumplestiltskin called out, making it to his feet and stumbling.

The Jabberwocky blinked in surprise. "What?" she managed, but the realization was too late. Belle let out a sharp cry as the blade bit into the white haired woman and she fell, dark eyes wide as she hit the floor and couldn't move. "Damn you," she gasped out, but a low chuckle bubbled from her. "I thought you said that people like us didn't find True Love."

"That was a long time ago," Rumple said softly. "Things change."

"And what about you? Are you just going to leave me here? Jafar-"

"This isn't my fight, dearie. You're on your own." His hand flicked and she was pushed to the ground so hard that her head bounced against the stones, leaving her unconscious and fantastically silent. He turned, finding Belle still staring at where she'd run the other woman through. "Sweetheart, we have to go. Where is your friend?"

His voice jogged her out of her stupor and their eyes met. "Right. Alice."

Rumple remained standing very unsteadily in his place as she darted off to look, her own small mission focusing her again. He wrapped an arm around his middle, feeling the tug and pull of his magic fixing him. The feeling of a wound knitting back together was never a comfortable one, but the speed in which his magic was pulling it back together was enough to floor him again. He was stubborn though and remained standing as best as he could.

After a collection of moments worry began to tug on him again and he moved very slowly towards where Belle had rounded the corner, his limp pronounced but not so badly that his ankle gave in full beneath his weight. "Belle?" he called.

"Over here."

He found her knelt down next to what looked like a woozy Alice, green eyes dazed and holding her head. The young woman blinked up at Rumplestiltskin and those same eyes grew large at the sight of his blood covered shirt and vest, ripped and tattered as it was. "You were pinned to the wall," she managed.

"So I was."

"And now you're not."

"Also true." He felt a smile stretch his lips and he knew Belle would scold him for toying with a girl who'd been knocked unconscious. "Can you stand? Jafar won't stay away forever."

Alice nodded slowly and made it to her feet with even more care. Once she proved to both herself and Belle that she was steady the elder woman released her, moving to Rumple's side. A silent conversation passed between them.

_I'm fine, dear._

_Hardly._

_I will be fine, dear._

_Better._

"And you?" Rumplestiltskin asked aloud. She hadn't killed the woman pinned in the other room, but as far as he was aware Belle had never done any real damage to another person. At least not on purpose. Even in defence of another, it could be a weighty thing on such a pure soul.

She forced a smile and tipped up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. "I'll need to talk about it, but later. When we're all free and safe."

He nodded and her arm snaked carefully around his back to help steady them. It was time to find his son, grandson, and the others and get the hell out of Wonderland.

* * *

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine. **

Sometimes Bae thought about what his life had been like when it had been normal. It had, once or twice in his years of existence, he was sure. It was always a variation of normal, but it had been his. Normal had been those early mornings when his papa would wake him, voice patient as he had ushered him through getting ready for the day. Normal had been learning the trade that put food on their table and something that might be considered a roof over their heads. Then the Dark One's curse and the Ogres War had shattered his normal. Many years later he'd tried to find a new normal in Emma Swan, but that had been stolen away by her eventual place in breaking yet another curse. Finally there had been his engagement to Tamara, but looking back that had been twisted all the way through.

Okay, maybe his life had never been normal, Bae conceded to himself as he blocked a spear aimed at him.

He risked a glance back to Henry who was behind his mother. The boy was a quick study with a sword, but he was hardly ready to toss him a weapon and make him more of a target than he was already. Wanted alive by this Jafar guy or not, Rumplestiltskin would be the least of the crazy sorcerer's problems if Henry was hurt even a little on this horrible trip.

"Neal!" Emma shouted and he just barely missed the sword that one of the guards carried. He dodged and came around with his own, using the momentum behind the swing to take his attacker off balance and to the floor.

He grinned at the blonde. "No problem," he offered with a shrug.

A powerful gust of wind took guards off their feet as well as them, as if the attacker had little care for the safety of either party. Bae hit hard, gripping the hilt of his sword so that it didn't go sliding across the marble floor. He sat up, feeling a little dazed, and saw a man stalking directly towards them, robes flowing out with the power that seemed to radiate around him, anger fueling it.

Will let out a curse even as the man flicked his hand and ordered, "Genie, back to your bottle."

Bae watched as the man dissolved suddenly and without hopes of escaping, whisked off to a bottle in some other part of the palace. He'd been around magic long enough to recognize someone that used it with every breath as this man did, and he started to stand, ready to put himself between Jafar and Henry if need be.

"Don't bother," Jafar snapped and Bae was floored with barely any movement from the other man. He slammed hard into the marble floor and this time his grip did loosen around the hilt of his sword. It moved seemingly on its own and the blade pressed lightly against Bae's neck. "Now be a good boy and stay. Cyrus, if you'd be so kind as to return what you stole from me now."

"You'll have to kill me first, Jafar," Cyrus growled from his place.

"Well, if you insist."

"No so fast, dearie."

The sword at Bae's neck clattered to the ground and Jafar looked around wildly, seeing the source of his plan going awry. Baelfire's lips twitched up in a knowing smirk and he saw his papa, Belle, and Alice as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Rumplestiltskin," Jafar growled, the name coming out more as a curse than anything else. He raised his hand, ready to defend himself. "Impossible. You were dying."

"You saw what I wanted you to see, Jafar, just like you have since I stepped foot into Wonderland. You might be good in Agrabah, you might even be talented here in Wonderland, but you're _nothing_ compared to the Dark One. You chose to play a game that you had no hopes of winning. Poor judgement on your part, dearie." Golden eyes met dark. "Bae?"

"I'm good, Papa," Bae answered him, straightening and looking back to where Emma had an arm wrapped around Henry protectively. "We all are."

"And for that," Rumplestiltskin said as he began forward, his steps steady and no sign of any injury on him, "I'll be generous today. I'm going to let you live, Jafar."

"Indeed how generous," the other sorcerer bit out. "What makes you think-"

"You see, dearie, I see the future, so I already know how this is going to end. _You_ are the variable. I really have no stock in your little… endeavour here. We're leaving today and you may pick up where you left off before we came or I can put you into the ground now for your foolishness." He flashed out of existence and then back in, suddenly in the face of the taller man. "Your choice."

Jafar met Rumplestiltskin's eyes for only a moment or two before snorting. "I suppose you'll be taking the former genie and Alice as well?"

"Well I shouldn't think you'll have to wait long for them to come traipsing right back in after their dear friend Will," the Dark One answered lightly, his voice dancing as much as his hands as he spoke. "You wanted a deal, Jafar. I guarantee this is the best one you'll get from me."

"Deal," the younger sorcerer growled.

"We can't leave Will!" Alice protested from behind.

"Of course you can," Rumplestiltskin answered and then they were gone, pulled away from the palace and landing far outside the grounds.

Bae swayed. He _hated_ the feeling of leaving half himself behind when he had no warning. He turned to tell his father just that and saw him stumble dangerous, the glamour he'd worn washed off somewhere between the palace and where they'd landed. His entire front was covered in dried blood and the expensive dragonhide leather that made up his vest was ripped like he'd been run all the way through. "Papa!" he shouted even as his knees gave out and he landed hard on the grass.

"It's fine. I'm fine," he protested as his son knelt in front of him, hands steadying either shoulder. "It's mostly healed… partially healed."

Baelfire's eyes flickered over to where Belle stood and she frowned, stepping up behind his father and Rumplestiltskin leaned back into her touch as soon as she was near. "Someday you'll remember that you're only human."

"Three-hundred years of habit is hard to break," Rumple answered tiredly.

"How is this going to end?" Alice asked, her voice quiet but gaining attention from all those around.

Rumplestiltskin looked at her seriously. "That depends on you and your friends, dearie."

"But you see the future. You said-"

"I do, but not here. I lied to Jafar. It's called a bluff." He pulled in a deep breath, forcing himself unsteadily to his feet and leaned heavily to the left, Belle keeping him balanced that way to stay off what looked like a very sore ankle after traipsing all over the land. "Even so, I wouldn't bet against you. Especially since you got away with your friend."

Cyrus' eyes narrowed. "The Knave was-"

"Not _that_ friend, dearie. The one trapped inside that staff you've been toting around. A very powerful being, isn't she? You'll need her to defeat Jafar, that much I can offer you."

"Can you free her?" Alice asked.

"I would be able to, yes."

The girl smiled, probably the first real one that they'd seen from her yet. "Would a healer and a way home be a sufficient trade?"

Rumplestiltskin's expression softened and he stretched out one hand. "I'd say we have a deal," he acknowledged as they shook on it.

* * *

It was everything Henry could do not to beg his parents and the others to go back in immediately to rescue Will. They didn't leave people behind, but he also knew - as he would have liked to think that he was a little older and a little wiser these days - that sometimes you had to take a step back and regroup. His grandpa was pale and drawn by the time they reached where they were going, though most certainly still stubbornly on his feet. Belle had stopped asking him if he was okay and had grown quiet now. The silence between them all made Henry's heart sink a little.

Alice and Cyrus took them to the White Rabbit's home and while they were immediately welcomed in by a pretty female rabbit in lipstick, the White Rabbit himself seemed a bit put out by the company, complaining the whole way about blood stains and the carpet while his wife rolled her eyes.

Rumplestiltskin took a seat, dark eyes watching carefully and Henry took a seat next to him. "You okay?"

"Why does everyone keep asking?" he groused back and his grandson offered him a lopsided smile.

"Could be that you're covered in blood."

Rumple snorted, but still shot an amused look in the teen's direction. "So I am. Yes, Henry, I'll be fine. Hopefully I won't sleep through your birthday though."

"I forgot," Henry managed in a shocked tone. "I've never forgotten my own birthday.. Who forgets their own birthday?"

"Lads that have been wandering around Wonderland."

"I'm not even entirely sure what day it is."

His grandfather offered a shrug, leaning back against the cushions behind him but never risking a chance to let his eyes slip shut. "Nor I," he admitted softly. "Wonderland does that to you. We'll see where we pop back out."

"We're not staying to save Will, are we?"

"I'm afraid not."

"We should," Henry said, knowing the argument was futile even as he gave it. "He helped me get out. He's-"

"This is not our fight, Henry," Rumplestiltskin said softly. "But you're right. He did help you and that's why I'm going to give them their best chance at winning against Jafar."

"What if he does it?"

"Does what?"

"Breaks the laws of magic."

The Dark One fell silent on that question and he pursed his lips together.

"That bad, huh?"

"Well, it's most certainly not good."

"Good thing we have Alice and Cyrus on the job," the White Rabbit's wife said as she pushed a cup of steaming liquid into Rumple's hands. "I don't want to hear an argument from you, Dark One or not. They brought you here and no one leaves my home injured. House rules."

"What is it?"

"You're a sorcerer. You tell me."

One dark brow quirked upward and he sniffed at the drink. After a moment and a thoroughly expectant look from his grandson that just wouldn't end, he must have decided that it couldn't do any more harm than good and tilted the glass back, taking the whole solution in two large gulps. He pitched forward suddenly, choking and gagging on it and shot a vicious glare at the lady rabbit smiled sweetly at him.

"You'll thank me later, dear," she told him with a shrug.

"Much later, I'm sure," Rumplestiltskin answered, but there must have been something worthwhile in the solution because he stood, looking more steady on his feet than he had when he'd halfway collapsed to the seat, and motioned to the snake staff that Cyrus was holding. "Let's get on with this, shall we?"

Henry's view of magic had grown and changed over his experience with it. When he was younger and magic was first brought to Storybrooke, all he'd seen it used for was evil. It had corrupted his mom and made her the Evil Queen, it had brought down a curse on a group of people that had never done anything wrong, and had destroyed countless lives. As he grew up and he watched how people used it and sometimes even how they grew, he decided it wasn't so much magic, but the person and how they used it. A good person could be driven to evil just as easily as a so-called evil person could start the long trek back to good. The one thing that was most certainly true was just what he'd always heard his grandfather say - even before they'd known the relationship was there - in that all magic came with a price. Looking at his parents, at Belle, and at his grandpa, he was never more certain of it.

Rumplestiltskin took hold of the hesitantly given staff and his dark eyes studied it. "Quaint," he muttered after a moment and set it down. He took one step back, releasing the staff and it stood straight up as if held by string. He never seemed to need words to work his magic, and Henry was halfway sure that the way he flourished his hand was more for sure than anything else. _It's emotion_, he always said and the teen knew that they'd run high on this particular trip.

Magic swirled through the little rabbit hole and dark red and grey smoke enveloped the staff. When it faded back away, a woman stood there instead. She was tall and utterly lovely and she stared at him with a guarded curiosity.

"Maman?"

The woman turned. "Cyrus," she breathed and she threw her arms around his neck. "My boy. My sweet son."

"Ah," Rumplestiltskin breathed his understanding. "There's a twist to the story."

Cyrus broke free of his mother. "How can I ever repay you?"

"You hold up your end of the bargain," the Dark One said, motioning to the White Rabbit that looked very nervous to have someone pointing in his directly, "and you provide us with a path home."

"Rabbit?" Alice called. "Will you do it?"

"Where's home?"

"The Enchanted Forest, preferably the Dark Castle deep in the Forbidden Mountains if you can manage it."

"My… You people really do know how to name places, don't you?"

Emma snorted, the first sound that she'd made since walking into the little hole. "I can't believe that a talking rabbit is the one that _finally_ gets that. Irony."

"You'll save Will, won't you?" Henry asked as he saw all the signs that they were leaving. He had to know. He couldn't leave without knowing.

"We'll save Will," Alice promised even as the White Rabbit had begun to dig his hole.

"One last thing," Rumplestiltskin said, his voice somehow standing over the rush of the portal opening. "The Nyx will help you. That's the only piece of the puzzle I have left to offer you for your part in helping to save my grandson."

"Thank you."

Henry grinned and offered a wave. He wasn't used to leaving people behind at the end of an adventure. They all seemed to come back around sooner rather than later. Even the majority of the Lost Boys had stayed with them upon return. Even so, he hardly thought that he'd be returning to Wonderland any time soon.

The rabbit hole was an easier ride than the Looking Glass, but the Dark Castle's polished marble floors took a hit as the marble was thrown in all directions by the opening hole. They had landed in the Great Hall and were greeted by two sorceresses staring owlishly at them. "Mom!" Henry greeted, rushing forward to hug Regina. "What are you doing here?"

"You think I'd miss your birthday?" she asked, returning her adopted son's embrace and shooting a glare over his shoulder. "Rabbit."

The White Rabbit looked ready to faint and Belle offered him a smile. "Thank you so much for the trip home. We wish you all the best in defeating Jafar."

"I went to Wonderland!" Henry announced excitedly as the rabbit made his hasty escape from the Enchanted Forest.

"Did you now?" Regina asked sweetly and looked directly at Rumple. "Why would he do a thing like that?"

Rumplestiltskin turned wide, dark eyes on her. "Never mind that. Why is Maleficent in my castle?"

The blonde sorceress waved, her expression so over-the-top that it was almost predatory. "Hello Rumple dear. Regina mentioned that she was coming here for Henry's birthday and I thought that even though our castles reside in the same mountain I just never drop by for tea."

"Maleficent is your _neighbor_?" Baelfire asked, choking back his own laugh at the sight of the woman he'd heard Emma had fought below the clock tower in Storybrooke sitting in his father's castle and raising her tea cup daintily as if she were cheering something.

"I prefer not to talk about it," Rumple groused. "Or think about it. Ever."

"Hey… Sorry about the sword to the chest," Emma managed and the other woman shrugged.

"It was his fault anyway. It usually is."

Emma nodded and turned.

"Mom, where're you going?" Henry called.

"I've finally hit my quota. Too much weird in one day. Or days. Or whatever the hell this was. Remember our new rule."

"Don't touch anything if I don't know what it does. Got it." He watched her nod and then sort of drift out of the room, shaking her head the whole way and he turned to fix a very serious look on his father. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"You're just going to stand there?"

Regina snorted and retook her seat in Rumplestiltskin's spot at the long table, crossing her legs and leaning back in the high-backed chair.

"She's never going to say yes until you wear her down," Henry pressed when his dad continued to give him a blank stare.

"Henry, that's not-"

"It's what I did to get her to believe in magic. I never gave up and now look at us! We just got back from a trip to Wonderland and we're in Grandpa's castle and everything's great!"

"I really don't want to hear the name Wonderland for at least a century," Rumplestiltskin groused.

"Okay, maybe not _great_, but we're all alive," Henry corrected, never losing his grin.

"Okay, kid. I'll go talk to her."

The large doors closed behind him, washing the room in a silence that Regina broke. "So, Henry, tell me all about how you managed to get to Wonderland from your Grandpa Gold's castle. This should be an _excellent_ story."

To her side, Maleficent giggled and somehow Rumplestiltskin had vanished entirely, taking Belle along with him. Apparently he wanted the blonde sorceress gone less than he wanted to face Regina on that particular subject.

* * *

Bae couldn't believe he'd just been talked into chasing Emma down by their fourteen year old son… who was happily not there for the fallout that was sure to come. Emma had made it pretty clear before all hell had broken loose that she wanted nothing to do with a marriage proposal or anything quite as permanent as he would have hoped for. Part of him fell back on a fear that was born out of what he knew from his childhood: she was a princess and spinner's kids didn't marry princesses. No, Emma hadn't been raised here so he'd finally been able to talk himself out of that one. It was something much more… Emma, he was sure. She didn't trust him after he'd left or she thought that things were moving too fast. It could be any number of reasons, but as he rounded a corner and the hallway suddenly got him where he needed to go he felt his heart break just a little.

Emma hadn't taken well to the dresses and the finery that were supposed to accompany her rank. Granted, she put up with them for certain events, but thankfully her mother understood practicality over social norms. While she looked stunning in some of the Enchanted Forest's finest, Bae couldn't help but think that the soft leather breeches and the jacket that resembled the red one she was so fond of from back home suited her better than a dresses and tiaras ever would. It was the look on her face, though, that tugged at him and he knew that she had run so she wouldn't have to face him over this. And there he was, throwing it in her face, expecting her to bend her wants to him. He kicked himself for it and turned, ready to wait until she was ready.

"You don't have to go," her voice followed him and he froze. "I don't mind if you stay."

"You sure?"

"No, but that's okay."

Bae nodded slowly, his boots making only a little noise against the floor as he approached and took the offered seat next to her on the couch. He hadn't been in this room yet and likely neither had she. For all either of them knew, it hadn't even existed until they needed it for whatever conversation they were about to have. "Crazy kid we have, huh?"

This brought a smile to Emma's face. It was small, but she glanced at him oh-so briefly as it perked. "Yeah. Imagine two people that met stealing the same car having a kid that gets himself into all kinds of trouble."

"Well, if you'd told me that when I met you, I'd have believed you. If you'd told me that that trouble would have been in Wonderland, I probably would have thought you were crazy."

Now she was laughing, that gust of a chuckle that made it hard to breathe.

"Your dad okay?"

"Oh yeah. He's tougher than he looks. We may not see him for a couple of days, but Belle's got him handled."

"I kind of got the impression she had the Jabberwocky handled too. Not sure how. Maybe it's just a hunch."

"Your hunches were always good."

"Superpower. Fear it."

It was Bae's turn to chuckle and he sucked in a deep breath. "Superpower of calling out lies. Let's put it to the test."

"Seriously? Now we're doing this?"

"Yeah. Now. Out of all the places I've been, Wonderland was the worst."

"Lie. It was Neverland."

"Yeah, but only by a little. My favourite colour is blue."

"True."

"Kickball was my favourite game as a kid."

"True."

"I love you."

Emma froze, eyes wide and staring at him. "What?"

"Use your superpower. I love you. Do you believe me?"

"Neal…."

"Do you believe me? If you tell me no - and you mean it - I'll walk away right now. We can do that friends thing that we tried back in Storybrooke. I just…"

"No, you have a right to know," Emma murmured. "I think, after talking to Belle and after… Well, that's part of why I just didn't want to talk after the first round with the Jabberwocky. It wasn't just my parents that abandoned me. It was you too."

"You're still afraid I'll leave?"

"No… Yes… I don't know. It freaks me out. What if we get further into this and Henry gets even more excited and then we have to split? What then?"

"Aren't you going at it with kind of a negative perspective?"

"Everything falls down around our heads all the time, Neal, why wouldn't this?"

He stopped, hearing her fears in every word she spoke and it killed him. "I just want you to be happy, Emma."

"I know."

"And more than anything, I want to help you to be happy."

"But how do we know it's right?"

Bae offered her a lopsided grin and before either of them knew it they'd leaned in, his hands tangled in her hair and hers wrapped around his neck. Neither of them missed the powerful rush of energy that flowed from the kiss and after a few moments they broke, blinking at each other. "Because we love each other," he whispered his response.

Tears stood in hazel eyes and she kissed him again. "Yeah we do. I love you, Neal."

"Forever?"

"Yeah. Forever."

* * *

Rumplestiltskin felt terrible. The herbs that the rabbit's wife had given him had provided the boost he needed to get home, but then it'd drained him, leaving him ready to crawl beneath the covers of his oversized bed and sleep for a week. Belle hadn't let him, insisting that she saw to his wound, got him a change of clothes, ushered him into the bath, and pretty much anything she could manage to do so that she didn't stand still for more than half a moment. When he finally emerged from the washroom, she was putting fresh sheets on the bed, her gaze entirely focused on the task and she didn't even give notice of his approach until he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Relax," he murmured directly into her ear.

"I just thought fresh sheets would be nice."

"We'd only slept one night in them, sweetheart."

"It's just-"

"Belle."

She turned to look at him and he could see the heartache in her clear eyes. She was trying to keep it from etching too deeply into her features, but was quickly losing that battle and within a few moments tears had built and he gathered her into his arms, feeling her bury her face in the crook of his shoulder. "I'm a terrible person," she sobbed.

He knew chuckling was the wrong response even as it escaped him. "My dear, I'm not making light of it," he assured her. "It's just… to hear _you_ of all beings in all the worlds say that you are a terrible person…"

She sniffed, running the back of her hand across her face to wipe at the tears. He reached up and pulled it away, the opposite hand moving to take over the motion in a gentler fashion. "You didn't kill her."

"But she'll suffer."

"She caused us to suffer."

"That doesn't make it _right_, Rumple."

"Perhaps not, but it does make it justified. You saved my life, Belle."

"You would have figured something out."

"I was fading, regardless of the boost Jafar had provided. I never would have overpowered her in that state."

She sniffed again. "You beat Jafar."

"I outwitted Jafar."

"I still stabbed a woman."

Rumple leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "That you did, my love," he whispered. "But you can't dwell on it. Not everything is so black and white as some would have you believe. You did what you had to to help me."

"You have so many nightmares."

"You'll have a few too, for a while, and for once I will help you through them. Just this once I can be your strength, Belle."

This brought a small smile to her face and she kissed him. "I love you."

"And I you." He paused, tilting his head to the side as magic tingled that was not born of their own kiss.

"What is it?"

A smile stretched his lips. "I think I'm going to have a daughter-in-law."

It wasn't long before exhaustion got the better of Rumplestiltskin and he and Belle climbed into the bed. He knew she'd have the nightmares she so feared. There was really no way around that, but he'd be there for her just as she had been for him. This time he had a chance to return her love in the same manner that she showed hers to him.

* * *

End.


End file.
